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The Future of
Sunglasses at the Poker Table
Most poker players have
an opinion on playing poker with sunglasses. Some love it and
some hate it. However, lately it seems the opinion is starting
to swing more on the "hate it" side. Even some of the poker
players who wear sunglasses concur that it can be a distraction for
the game. World poker champ, Grey "The Fossil Man" Raymer says
that his lizard eye sunglasses he wears are more of a joke and
that he can understand why some players hate to look at him.
However, he believes they are becoming a standard prop for the game.
Europe, on the other
hand, is now taking steps to ban poker players from wearing
sunglasses during major league tournaments. They believe that
concealing one's eyes is equivalent to using performance enhancers.
Annie Duke, who did very well in the WSOP no-limit Texas Holdem
Tour, aptly expressed this concern when she went on record saying
that wearing sunglasses is like a baseball pitcher applying Vaseline
on his hand to throw the ball. Players like Duke feel that
poker players should rely more on their skills to not only bluff,
but to make other players think they are bluffing. Sun glasses
are simply a way of hiding and avoiding the true task at hand.
As for eye contact, some
players avoid it altogether (with or without sunglasses), while
others use stare-down tactics. Trying to read each other gives
poker an intellectually challenging dimension that sunglass helps to
minimize. Online poker is another story altogether - although
there are ways to pick up "tells" on other players, such as previous
betting amounts and/or actions, and the rate at which another player
goes for their chips.
Sunglasses are even
infiltrating recreational, kitchen poker games, leaving some players
out from experiencing the sociality and fun of poker playing.
Sunglasses should most definitely be banned when even your best
friends are showing up to play poker in a gangster hood and Ray-Bans
- and all they can do is mumble and slowly nod their head when
playing a round of Texas Holdem. I for one, play poker to have
a good time and share a few laughs. Besides, playing too
seriously has the potential of destroying a poker player when they
do inevitably lose a big pot.
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