I'm sure hoping that we are seeing a vocal minority here. I know that if I ever find out that someone I am playing with is seeing cards and not speaking up, I will speak up for them, and never play with them again.

Seeing others' hole cards without letting the other players know is cheating. Second perhaps only to stealing their chips when they aren't looking. Is there a rule for that: "no player shall remove another players chips when they aren't looking"? Never heard of that rule. Must not be cheating.

I sat next to a guy last week who would hold his hole cards in such a way that I could see them without trying. After the first incident, I said, "You should watch how you hold your cards because I can see them." He said, "Oh, thanks." At that point, he continued to flash them in such a way that both me and the guy next to me could often see them without trying. I no longer felt compelled to tell him any more. And while I never took advantage of that information in that game, I don't think I would have had a problem using it if he continued to flash his cards despite my warning. It almost cost him in a hand. He looked at his cards without flashing them, laughed, called, and said, "Did you see what I had last hand?" I said, "Jack nine of diamonds." He laughed again. The flop came all diamonds. Three guys ended up all in on the flop. He showed "Jack nine of diamonds" again for the win. If I'd been in the hand, or someone in the hand was listening to us, he would have given a big hint as to what his hand might have been.

As for the glasses, I think that is a slightly different case. In that case, the guy is actively trying to hide his own facial features to prevent tells by wearing the glasses in the first place. Having that tactic backfire on him by giving off the ultimate tell - the cards themselves, is his own fault for trying to hide his features in the first place. Wearing glasses inside is pretty silly, IMO, and if people can see their cards in the reflection, then its nobody's fault but their own. I certainly would never say, "Sir, do you realize that your hands shake when you have the nuts, but your vein pulses when you bluff?" I think the reflection is the same as the hands and the vein. It is an involuntary physical tell that is fair game for exploitation by opponents at the poker table.

So, the inadvertent card flashing is something I warn someone about, mostly so no one can accuse me of trying to shoot angles. But all other physical tells, including the reflection in the glasses, are fair game.

Cheating would be marking the cards and wearing glasses to be the only one to see the marks. Or hiding an ace up my sleeve. Or purposely shooting angles on an unsuspecting (and probably old or novice) player next to you. Or collaborating with others at the table. etc.

The player does not need to wear glasses. He chooses to wear glasses.

If he gives off a physical tell as a result, how is that different than any other physical tell.

If you found that a guy beads sweat on the knuckle of his thumb every time he bluffs all-in, but is bone dry with the nuts, then you would never tell him, would you? But that tell is just as reliable as seeing his cards.

In the case of the gold bar stool, I'd warn him once and tell the floorman. This is something outside of his control, and I'd give him a single heads up. After that, if he doesn't heed the advice, then I'd use the information.

It's not fair to the other players in the hand.

No it's not. Physical tells are never 100% accurate -- not even close. And they can be faked. Flashing cards cannot be faked. You have certain information that undermines the entire game.

May not be 100% accurate, but for the most part we're talking about non professional, amateur poker players... not phil ivey. When you got a tell on someone, it usually is what it is.

What if you could see the cards in the reflection from your opponents eyeballs?

or hear him mutter his holdings under his breath ( ive witnessed this.)

Final table at the WSOP - its no longer cheating...

A "tell" will let you know if that person likes his hand -- or how strong/weak it is *in their mind*. It never actually lets you know (for sure) what the cards are.

Poker is not a game, like society could be considered, where there should be a sense of social justice. This being said, I do believe that the two can be seperated. A raging artery is indeed a physical tell - this is considered a part of the game.

How people do not consider the idea of noting someone's hole cards through a reflection on an object to NOT be cheating, I do not understand. While poker is indeed not part of some socially just order, I do think (as most of the rules dictate - and as current decorum requires) that poker is however a game of honor.
The player must be honorable - there are angle shots that are within the range of the rules, and there are angle shots which are outside of these rules. I feel shots considered outside of these rules (such as a string bet for the purpose that string bets are outlawed) would be frowned upon by ANYONE in this community. While reading off the relection is not dictated by rule to be illegal, if one is to understand poker as a game ruled over by honor, it is indeed cheating not to inform the player.

not entirely true. what if you noticed that a girl strokes her chip stack everytime she has an ace in the hole. I rmember a time I seen an old guy look at his cards, his eyes about fell out of his head, then proceeded to push his whole stack in preflop. I knew he had aces, and I placed a prop bet with the guy next to me for a dollar. I won.

Whether or not you believe you have an obligation to the player wearing glasses to inform him of his mistake, you do have an obligation to the rest of the table to inform them that you saw the cards.

From Robert's Rules of Poker (Section 3 / "Showdown"): Seems pretty clear.

I wonder if that's enough to get people to change their vote/view? Two thumbs up Robert's Rules.