Quote:
Originally Posted by callipygian
Strat alert, but you realize that you're not obligated to look at the board when the dealer puts it out, right? While everyone is looking at the board, look at them. As people act, consider what boards you'd fold / call / raise. Look for their tells. Try to see if the flop hit them - without knowing what the flop even is. Then when it's almost your turn to act, look at the board and act quickly because you've pre-thought it.
Conversely, when action is on your opponent, it's a perfect time to look at the board. Any actions he gives are likely acting, so staring at him is basically worthless. Think about your entire range of hands, what monsters you may have on this board, what bluffs you may have on this board. Ten bonus points for forgetting what you actually have because you're totally engrossed in analysis.
This, absolutely. As long as I am not first to act, I am watching everything except the board cards when they come out.
For me, the only real value in sunglasses is that they allow me to keep playing even if the lighting is bothering me. But it's gotta be excruciating for me to even consider wearing sunglasses at the table. I've done it twice in my whole life, I believe, both for legitimate migraines. One was at a $0.10/$0.20 limit drunken dealer's choice home game (tons of image concerns in that game, obviously).
To be fair, I suppose they have the advantage of shielding your eyes so your opponents can't see what you're looking at. That's the only tell they usually conceal, so that's a point in their favor, maybe, if you suck enough that your eyes regularly tip your hand. But for every time that works out for you, you're probably going to lose at least that much to sloppy errors created by the sunglasses (or worse, reflecting your cards with mirror shades), never mind all the donators you repel by spilling douche all over the table.
Summary: lame.