I don't wear sunglasses at the table. I also don't get mad at people who do. Why are some pros so angry with people wearing sunglasses? It actually makes me wonder if they really do block tells and the pros are trying to downplay them and insult wearers to try to shame them into not wearing them.

This isn't really so much a sunglasses v. no sunglasses thread as it is a why would anyone care unless they really do mask tells kind of thread. Thoughts on this?

I always wear sunglasses for like the first hour or two at a table. Every hand I'm not in, I'm studying people's body language and ticks one by one until I get a good feel on them. The glasses aren't so much to protect me, but so that someone doesn't see me staring straight at them for 20 minutes straight.

Because sunglasses (and earphones) take away peoples' attention from the game.

How many times has someone counted out 10 $5 chips, pushed them forward while saying, "fifty," only to have Mr. Sunglassesandearphones stare at the dealer for 15 seconds before asking, "How much is that?"

How many times has service attempted to get the attention of Mr. Noperipheralvisionnoambientnoise by shouting, "Sir! Sir!" and waving their hands?

You'll see a lot of hate from pros - and regular recreational players - because, ultimately, most of the tells you give off are gone within a few hundred hours of play. All-in semibluff on an OESFD? You're probably nervous the first few times it happens to you, and sunglasses and hoodie may help then, but after a while, as you get used to the game, the drawbacks outweigh the benefits.

I would definitely wear sunglasses, earphones, and a hoodie the first time I make the final table at a televised event. But I hope to god that I wouldn't for my second. And I'd probably mock the n00bs that do. "First final table? HA HA NOT ME I HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE AND ALSO HAVE AN EXTRAORDINARY INTROMITTENT ORGAN"

the only reason people wear sunglasses is because they saw the pro's doing it at the final table of the WSOP on TV.

I mean can't you control your eyes bulging out of your head when you flop a monster?

I don't like it when someone next to me is wearing sunglasses then tries to start a conversation with me. If I can't see his eyes, it's very disrespectful.

Yesterday I got pulled over for doing 93mph. The first thing I did when the cop came up to me is I took off my sunglasses. And I got a ticket only for careless driving (a much less serious ticket and fine). I can assure you if I kept them on I would have gotten a full speeding ticket.

Take off the glasses, your not in the WSOP.

why don't you just look at them? I think I make people feel intimidated by watching them while they are making certain play especially if I'm in the hand with them. Your allowed to look at people at the table.

sunglasses don't bother me at all. people wearing headphones and not paying attention do. headphones are so minus ev its not even debatable. To think how much info you miss by not listening to other players announce bets, talk strategy, etc. you learn so much just by listening. Just last week was in a hand against a guy wearing headphones. first to act I announce all in, villain bets $20 thinking I check. floor rules it a call of the all in. he had 9 high. did I say how much I love headphones?

I've never actually noticed any hate for sunglasses in the 2/5 games I play in. Most people dont wear them, but a few do, but I dont think anyone really cares one way or another. I havent seen any correlation between sungalsses and skill either. Some of the sunglass crowd are very good, some not so much. Just like the nonsunglass crowd.

So IME it's sort a non issue.

Who the hell cares what someone else is wearing at the poker table? In no way does it affect anyone else. I have rarely if ever seen an instance where a sunglasses-wearing player slowed the game down, as callipygian suggested. It's like those people who somehow get offended or disgusted when they see someone grocery shopping in pajamas and flip flops. I've always wondered why anyone would give a flying ****. Reminds me of right-wing moralists who wanna tell everyone else how to act when it doesn't involve them in any shape or form. Poker ain't a damn black tie event. Just let people wear whatever allows them to feel comfortable and enjoy the game. I actually find the mix of attire at a poker table pretty interesting, as you'll often have players repping 9 different styles. Just another way poker manifests itself as a cultural melting pot. Even the headphone wearers rarely slow the game down, unless they're watching a movie on their tablet. That's a hundred times more annoying than sunglasses, but even then the player is forfeiting their edge by willfully ignoring the game, so let 'em.

I don't wear sunglasses, but I disagree that anyone wearing them is only doing so because they're trying to be some TV superstar. Sure it's true in some cases, but in general I don't see any reason to be so presumptuous of other people's motivations.

You should raise your standards for how fast a game should move if you rarely see people - sunglasses or not - slowing down a game.

Well obv players slow the game down all the time. It just rarely correlates to whether or not they're wearing sunglasses or headphones.

This seems more directed toward headphone guys. What about sunglasses without headphones?

Sunglasses wearers are visually impaired. Earphone wearers are hearing impaired.

You're right that being hearing impaired is often worse, because people expect you to hear what's behind and to the side but don't usually expect you to see behind.

But I'm explaining the legitimate reasons for the hate.

I guess I still don't understand why you would hate a sunglass wearer who isn't wearing headphones. You said in the first post that the headphones slow down the game. Sunglasses don't though. So if someone wants to impair their vision and it doesn't slow down the game, why the hate?

Someone could be wearing sunglasses and headphones and a hoodie and watching a movie on a tablet while surfing porn on their phone, but if they are not slowing down the game, I couldn't care less.

You asked why people hated sunglasses wearers. If you want a passionate defense of the practice (either of wearing or of hating), you may want to pussyfoot a little less.

It's clear you have no idea what the word pussyfoot means. I was very direct with my question which you clearly didn't or couldn't understand. But your irrational anger and poor comprehension answers my question as to why some hate: they're irrational.

This ×1000

If I know that I'm passive-aggressively pissing someone off with something I'm doing non-verbally that's a huge edge. You're playing someone who is going through life on pure emotion, not logic. And in the long run any non logical player is going to get exploited.

Nobody's angry, dude. Chill out.

If you come here expecting a fight, you're going to end up fighting yourself a lot of the time.

Some folks wear sunglasses because of visual problems with lighting I have heard. Some wear them because they think it looks cool. Some because they think it hides tells and such. I would never wear them personally, but getting angry about it seems a bit much. Plenty of other behaviors to get upset about IMHO.

I've seen some very very successful players constantly wear them.
I've seen some very very poor wanna-be players constantly wear them
I've seen some very very successful players never wear them
I've seen some very very poor wanna-be players never wear them.

I don't think there's a lot of correlation within skill level v.s. wearing/not wearing.
I personally do not wear them, but believe there are a bunch of different arguments for why people do
1) wanna-be poker pros- self explanitory.
2) hides on tells
3) light sensitivity problems in the room
4) just part of the wardrobe- why do some people wear ball caps in buildings? same reason?

I'll wear sunglasses occasionally(and it's very rare) when I'm really tired from putting in a long session. It helps to relieve some of the torture that ones eyes might endure during this time. That, and a couple of drops of Visine.

Imo, people who wear sunglasses have never slowed down the game and although I'll wear them from time time, admittedly I don't like it when someone else wears them if they're the real dark ones and I can't see their eyes. I want to see your eyes when I'm in the game with you, which, unfortunately, is my problem not yours.

Does anyone get the initial first impression that a sunglass wearer is likely more aggressive than a non?

Albedoa, who says I'm looking for a fight? Why do I need to "chill out?" I'm not mad. The tone of that guy's posts was that he was getting a little edgy but my comment was more directed to his comment about how he does get mad at headphone guys who he also correlates with sunglass wearers. He acknowledged he gets angry about that type of player and I acknowledged that it is irrational. Sorry if you don't like my conversation style, but that's how I communicate.

Gentlemen, stop directing comments at each other rather than each others thoughts on sunglasses and get back to the issue. Thanks.

If I see someone I've never seen before wearing sunglasses at the table, I get the impression that they are not very good at poker.

This is usually correct.


--klez

ETA: I am playing low stakes.

But there are a lot of good pros who wear them. So you fall in the camp of sunglass wearers are usually wannabes and doing what they saw on tv? Why would accomplished pros continue to wear them?

FWIW, other than a TV final table with crazy stage lighting - I don't think being "light sensitive" is a real argument for shades. My eyes are VERY light sensitive, and I wear dark sunglasses irl much more than most folks. I have never felt the need to wear them playing cards, as I have yet to play in a room so bright that it was needed.