Seems like sunglasses and headphones are no longer the norm for the majority of poker players.

Do you still wear sunglasses? Why or why not?

Do you still wear headphones? Why or why not and what do you listen to if you do?

I find it interesting how trendy these two accessories became during the poker boom but how relatively non-existent they were pre-boom and in the current era.

Listening to music at the table would probably make time pass slower for me tbh, **** that. Looking at the ******ed **** everyone is getting up to is more entertaining.

Also, the poker room is one of those places in the world where I run into people I'd never in a million years otherwise interact with in society - It's worth some attention for life experience imo lol (other similar place I can think of is the gym, which has some characters too..)

Both make you look like a dweeb. Murses too. Glasses get a pass for people with light sensitivities. Otherwise major dork vibes.

Ban um all

I confess to doing both for a while during the boom.

Funny how sun glasses are now a strong indication someone is a poor player.

I guess smart phones have played a role in the decline of ear phones. Also the fact that you can no longer make decent money by being a rock.

That's my impression, too. Now people use their phone the whole time instead of listening to music.

I also know a couple people who use one small wireless bud that only the person right next to them can see.

Never have never will

Larry David was right about there being 2 kinds of people who wear sunglasses indoors.

As far as headphones etc. A social game is always a better game.

I’ve heard this before but I’m not sure why people care.

I’m sure others assume they’re a poor player, too.

But why?

I figure it’s an indication they’re more concerned with tells than sound theoretical play. But at the same time, a lot of players who seem to know what they’re doing theoretically will find ways to cover their face (pulling the collar over their mouth, masks, etc.).

So it seems trying to mask tells is still a thing even among theoretically sound players. So why the stigma against sunglass wearers?

Yea you can lmao


I wear both. Mostly cause of vision issues and sensory things. I dislike playing against people with sunglasses on and assume people do the same to me.

Headphones are a must. Apple has made them ubiquitous on the west coast


Eyes give away alot in poker even if you aren’t looking for it, your body will respond

What do you listen to when playing? Do you find you miss some action?

I find listening to music keeps my off of my phone which helps me follow action

Best music is chill music that doesn’t increase heart rate or get you excited


Yes I miss action

Time and a place for both but I dont use either 100% of the time. Theres so much whining in poker these days Im just happy if I can have a session with a couple normal conversations and no one acting entitled that poker owes them something.

I always take earbuds, and will sometimes put in a single earbud to listen to music.

If the table is fun and social I'll typically keep them in my pocket.

Reasons for wearing them include:

1) Table is dead silent and it is more entertaining to listen to music.

2) I'm sitting next to somebody who's totally obnoxious, and I want to drown them out.

3) I took a bad beat, made a stupid play, or am just getting bored and want some music to put me back in the right vibe.

tough day for the scarf crowd gettin snubbed from the poll

I have 20/20 vision but I have issues with lights. Mainly fluorescent or LEDs. Natural light is fine. Constant exposure to poker room lighting, or even lighting in an office, can give me headaches. I have worked with an optometrist with this. Sunglasses aren't as good as the doctor recommended ones, but if I am going to wear glasses, might as well black out my eyes.

Like others have said, I bring the earbuds but may or may not use them. If they are in my ears, I may or may not be listening to anything. If someone is being obnoxious, the earbuds go in.

I like a good casual, interesting conversation at the table. But if someone is super drunk or super annoying, the earbuds have been the universal "Don't communicate with me" signal.

AirPods on transparency mode are perfect for me.

Halfway thru last session, the older clueless inept guy across from me decided to put on sunglasses in our 1/3 NL game.

I guess it worked, cuz after a dreadful start where he couldn't seem to win a hand (terribly unlucky considering he was playing all of them), he got in his diminishing stack preflop with 82sooted, binked, and had since luckboxed his stack up to a few hundred dollars.

The only problem with his sunglasses is that he had to constantly slide them down his nose so that he could peer over them to squint at the cards, meanwhile holding up the game. After stalling the game once again, I attempted to politely move things along by commiserating with him and saying "I tried wearing sunglasses once, but I just couldn't make out the suits".

He looked up at me over his sunglasses and replied, "Oh no, it's not that. I was just doing calculations".

Gifyouneedme,I'llbeoverheredoingcalculationsG

I wear headphones. But 95% of the time they're not even on. It helps me focus and still allow me to interact and have conversations.

Headphones are bad for the game. It's a social game, get over it.

sunglasses/headphones not the norm

but hoodie covering whole face is and covid masks

Agree with this 99 percent...

...with this being the remaining 1 percent.

In practice, I've packed earbuds every time I've gone to play poker and never used them until the break (assuming it's a tourney). Of course, to many of you, I'm probably the obnoxious guy in Reason 2.

When we say headphones, are we specially talking about the bulky full size headphones, or does that include earbuds too?

I always bring my earbuds with me, but I don't always use them. Grinding cash games every day, sometimes there are times I really don't want to talk to anyone. Plus they serve as good insurance against an obnoxious player whose voice I just don't want to hear anymore. I've never brought full size actual headphones to the table though.

Yes, sorry, includes both.

My earbuds live in my belt pouch, and I take them everywhere. I almost never wear them at the table, because hearing what is going on, what people are saying, is too valuable.

On the rare occasions when I do put my earbuds on, it is always music, generally something undemanding, without vocals. Hawai`ian slack key guitar music; piano music, e.g., by Eric Satie; ambient music by someone like Brian Eno, Steve Roach, Lucette Bourdin, or Robert Rich; etc.

I never wear sunglasses. I wear a broad-brimmed hat, and I can shield my eyes whenever I wish simply by tilting my head down.

"Never trust a man who wears dark glasses indoors.
'Could you give me a hand,' he asks, and you will
Learn from experience he means an arm and a leg."
-- Stephen Scobie, "The Harder Stuff"