So I know this sounds like a stupid question but: if I have a glass of water (particularly a really shiny glass) on the table next to my cards, is there any chance that another player might be able to see my hole cards through the reflection of the glass of water?

I get really paranoid about this.

I'd be more concerned about the glass spilling, don't you guys have those side tables down under?

We've got like 20 side tables and like 100 people all wanting to use them at the same time. So most people are forced to put the glass on the table.

If you put the glass on the left of your cards, and cup the cards with your left hand while lifting the ends up with your right, the reflection issue will be impossible.

That said, I'd be surprised if the reflection could realistically tell more than red or black, even if you held the cards up to the glass.

This. And keep your glass off the damn table. They really don't have cup holders to slide under the rail?

I guess this could be a concern somehow, but it seems kind of extreme to be much of a problem. It would be way down my list of lookouts at the stakes I play.

If you shield you cards properly when you look at them, this should be impossible...
There are really a lot better things to be paranoid about.

Yes .. We have cup holders .. Nice shiny ones that will show red or black if you peel in the area. Many a time I've told Players to keep drinks on the opposite side of their chip stack that they keep their cards on.

I was going to say 'minor' information, but any information is valuable. Like when a guy is better hard into a monotone Board and you know one of his cards isn't that color!! GL

A lot of cardrooms don't have those, and it doesn't solve the problem anyway.

I'm always extra careful when I have a bottle even in the drink holder. And empty glasses or bottles never stay for long. Any tiny hint helps my opposition, black or red, ace or not, everything.

But not all information is equally valuable.

There's a cost to vigilance and a benefit from closing information leaks. Obsessively preventing people from seeing reflections in your cup holder seems like a high cost, low benefit scenario. People should focus on low cost, high benefit scenarios first. Then, high cost high benefit. Then, low cost low benefit. And lastly, high cost low benefit.

Like I always laugh (inside) when people who VPIP sub-10% are super protective of people seeing their cards. I mean, really, if they didn't fold, there's like a >50% chance their hand has an ace in it and I always want to yell out, "That card flashed! It's a red ace!" just to **** with them.

You should be looking at your cards in a way where they would only be visible in one specific direction and angle. Use both hands.

Reminds me of a WSOP final table where a player saw his opponents cards via a reflection off the opponents sunglasses.

Source? I'm skeptical that this is possible.

But lol sunglasses anyway.

nanobots, amirite?

It does seem implausible. But this came up at one of the WSOP.com final table streams they did before PokerGo, maybe 3-4 years ago. One player at the final table was wearing freakishly large shades. If I remember it right, someone sitting right next to him made a tough river call on him where sunglasses-guy was representing a flush. It dawned on him that the sunglasses reflection gave it away, and Tuchman and the commentator discussed it.

I always tell people with ridiculous mirrored sunglasses that I can see their hole cards in the reflection.

Don't care about their reaction, nor can I actually see their cards, but it does make some people's head gears spin a little. If it makes 1/10 ppl take the glasses off, that's a huge win for me.