With poker becoming a bigger part of popular culture the image of the players are also becoming more unique and noticeable. Probably the most well-known follower of fashion is David Williams. His extremely expensive suits and signature diamond encrusted toothpick makes him instantly noticeable and he is respected for his style as well as his poker. There are many poker players who are known for their expensive tastes and many players have a signature set of sunglasses for when they use in televised tournaments. Poker sunglasses are becoming as common as a cool cap or poker room badge.
Online poker tournaments (I think) and online cash games are the only poker place that players do not sport this sort of eyewear. This is because the sunglasses are used primarily to prevent tells being omitted by our eyes, our most expressive body part, along with partially hiding our face. Poker sunglasses come in many styles, from the sublime to the ridiculous, if you can name a type of sunglasses then there will be an archive of a poker tournament on TV somewhere that probably has a player wearing them.
Should you join the poker sunglasses crew? Here are a few reasons why wearing sunglasses is a good idea.
If you are wearing a particularly dark set of sunglasses your opponent cannot see how intently you are watching them. You may be staring directly at them or looking down, but this uncertainly can make an opponent uneasy. Also you will not be giving off any of the obvious poker tells from your eyes. If a player looks at the flop, then his cards then looks away then he probably hit his hand. Most players are not perceptive enough to control eye movements and therefore wearing sunglasses is a good idea for them. If a player stares intently at the flop concentrating they are likely to be calculating odds, usually for a drawing hand. Wearing sunglasses means providing you control the movement of your head you are preventing players from seeing these subtle, but telling, movements.
If you feel intimidated then having the screen in front of your eyes can help you. It will be harder for other players to note and take advantage of your nerves. If you also think you look cool under your amazing pair of shades (completely subjective of course, you may look awful!) then you will feel more confident and this helps any activity. Wearing a pair of shades, a large hat and a high jumper protecting the neck means you can almost hide at the table and remain anonymous. This can be comforting for players who can feel exposed at a strong table.
Jack Arama, a British poker player, wears extremely wacky shades at the table with ever more bizarre designs, but this is more about image than suitability. Some players wear the shades just to fit an image or to emulate their favourite players, sometimes for no other reason other than because they think this is part of the attire for poker. They do, however, enjoy the benefits stated above even if they do not realise it.
Many professional poker players choose not to wear them at the table. Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey and many others will look you straight in the eye. These players are good enough to know that they do not give away much emotion at the table. You should try both methods out and decide which you are more comfortable with. You should also avoid wearing sunglasses at low buy in tournaments (less than $20). There are enough beginner players here to not warrant such measures to obtain an advantage. In some tournaments wearing sunglasses is banned, but once the buy-ins increase players are usually allowed to wear what they want. Always check with the tournament director for any buy-in under $30 whether the use of sunglasses at the table is permitted.
Whilst you increase your poker knowledge and experience try and wear sunglasses for the benefits rather than the image. There is nothing wrong, however, with wearing some nice ones to look and feel good.
By Malcolm Clarke
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Your blog Get Your Poker Sunglasses On! was interesting when I found last Thursday by accident while searching for pokeroffice online. It’s funny what you could find on the internet sometimes. I’d have to agree on what you have to say, although it may seem like a wrong choice, but nontheless an interesting subject. Enough said, keep up the good work my friend!
Thanks for your comment. I am still on the look-out for a cool new pair to wear when I win the WSOP main event!