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SUNGLASSES
From this week’s edition of ‘The Rail’…
“The sunglasses-at-the-poker-table debate has raised its head again, courtesy of Daniel Negreanu.
“In a recent blog, he revealed that players in the new US TV show ‘The Big Game’ are banned from wearing shades – a move he fully supports.
“In fact, he’d like to see the ban extended to ALL televised events.”
Daniel believes that no player should hide like a chicken behind sunglasses. He thinks they’re bad for poker and that the game wouldn’t be on TV if everyone wore hoodies and sunglasses to hide their eyes.
Now, it’s time for you to have your say. Please post your thoughts below and answer this question…
Comments
Is it Greg Raymer who has them lizard ones?
Anyway, I always wear my sunglasses while playing online.
If so, I might try the Alex Higgins' doctor's note method for wearing an open-neck shirt while playing snooker.
I clicked on this poll/thread fully intending to vote as I really thought I'd have a "polarised" standpoint on this issue.
However, that masterful post by FlutNush has convinced me to stand firmly in the middle of this "spectacular" debate.
Reminds me of a Society we once tried to get going at College ..... The Apathetic Society ..... but the turnouts just weren't quite good enough to warrent getting the tea and biscuits in.
At the time we blamed an ill-advised font used in the posters.
FlutNush you should definitely consider standing at the next election, particularly as I understand you can also opt to sit down during much of the process which can go on into the early hours.
I can understand why Daniel would as he is SO good at reading people that this could be nothing but an advantage to him - Sometimes thought the shades make the man lol - Look at fossil man, those shade made him larger than life at the WSOP and not because people couldn't read him. They must of been quite intimidating to be starred down by lol
Big advantage is you can look at players for tells with out them knowing your staring at them, also I don't know if I'd want to be staring at some big hairy lummox .. with tattooed forearms like Popeye's without my ' dark bin's' on ..
So for me it's wear the Dark glasses to get all the help you can at the tables, .....
i voted they should be banned, but on reflection, the likes of laak and raymer are diff to the others
That is all.
" Dont sit on that damp wall, you'll get piles" !!!
Another jem was,
"If you fall out of that tree and break your leg, dont come running to me" ?????
No..players should be allowed to wear shades if they want, Why not?
Mohican, I have had to remove your post as the link broke the house rules. Nothing major to worry about, just a friendly note/reminder for the future.
here is the article you referenced (copied and pasted below)
Top of the Poker Pile: Phil Ivey is highly regarded amongst his poker peers
In just five years Phil Ivey has gone from relative obscurity to poker god
You don’t see many of the top poker players wearing shades.
Ivey admits that Lindgren is currently a much better golfer but the way he says it leaves you with the feeling that you’d be a fool to back anyone but Ivey.
He sounds like the hero in a summer blockbuster admitting the leading lady is currently someone else’s gal, but with the knowledge that come the final reel he’ll be the one rutting in a penthouse with fireworks exploding across a Manhattan skyline. ‘I predict that he won’t be able to play with me in two years,’ warns Ivey.
It’s this confidence and intimidating talk which stands him in such good stead at the poker table. But this intimidation doesn’t come from hiding behind accessories.
‘I think that if you’re so uncomfortable with yourself that you have to wear shades maybe you shouldn’t be playing poker.’ There might be a touch of sour grapes about this – Ivey lost a $100,000 pot at a World Poker Tour event when a pair of sunglasses caused him to misread his hole cards.
The $1,000 designer glasses soon found their way into the bin. Since then, Ivey’s had little time for sunglasses or the people that wear them. ‘You don’t see many of the top poker players wearing shades. If you come to my poker game at the Bellagio’ – he pauses to correct himself – ‘to the poker game, you won’t see any of them wearing sunnies. That’s saying something.
Phil’s been playing at the highest level with the Bellagio big guns for two years now but it took him a while to get a handhold. ‘I wasn’t really nervous the first time, I was just eager to learn. I wanted to see why they were playing at that level and I wasn’t. I lost in that first session. Actually, I think I lost my first four or five sessions.’
Regular guy
Losing a few sit-downs at that level is going to damage your bankroll and Ivey was no different. But Phil recouped and rebuilt his funds and then sat back down with the big boys. He’s now as regular a fixture at the game as poker’s other top names, which include Chip Reese, Gus Hansen, Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson. At a game where there’s $4,000-$8,000 action and a host of WSOP bracelet winners there’s not much room for self-doubt.
Chan and Brunson between them hold 20 world titles. Ivey has averaged one a year but hasn’t played as many events as he could have, which is something that may change over the next couple of years. ‘I believe I could catch them if I really bear down and play at every WSOP tournament,’ he says. ‘It’s fun when you get down to the last few players and the countdown begins. I like the competition but I’m going to have to practice as I don’t feel that I’ve done as well as I should have. I want to get more experience so that when I’m deep down in a tournament I don’t make the same mistakes.’
You’d think from the way that he’s talking he was new to the game. The focus and dedication is scary. But despite this does Ivey think that he’s the best player in the world? ‘I wouldn’t say there is a “best” player in the world. It’s whoever it is on that day. I feel that when I’m playing my best no one can beat me, but I don’t play my best all the time.’ It’s a line that doesn’t offer many crumbs of comfort. Even off his best Ivey is streets ahead of most mere mortals. Phil recouped and rebuilt his funds and sat back down with the big boys.
Ivey is just one of a group of elite players who regularly shuffle up for the biggest game in town, found at the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas. It’s a home from home for the highest of high rollers, which is hardly surprising when the blinds are routinely set at $4,000 and $8,000. At this level millions of dollars can change hands in a single night. And regularly do. And the stakes can get even higher when the right kind of player is in town.
As well as allowing the top pros in the world to play at the highest limits, The Big Game acts as a honey pot to pull in big money amateurs like Andy Beal. Amateurs that are more than happy to drop huge sums of money for a crack at poker’s biggest legends. Needless to say the likes of Ivey, Chan, Brunson and Negreanu aren’t complaining.
IVEY’S TOP TIPS:
1. Losing Streaks
Accept that you’ll have losing streaks as well as winning streaks. Take each day individually and learn from what you’re doing. It’s all part of poker. If you’re feeling really frustrated, it’s time to quit. I tell a lot of players that they have to learn themselves about when to walk away. It’s one of the most important aspects to becoming successful at poker.
2. Adapt
You can’t let the same thing happen to you over and over again in poker. If you keep getting bullied off the pot then you have to start being the bully. If you’re bluffing too much then you must change your game. It’s hard to give advice to players that I don’t know because there’s more than one way to win at poker and everyone’s got their own style.
3. Mental Stamina
You have to fight the whole time you’re playing. It’s so important to be alert. You have to pay attention to what’s going on and understand your surroundings if you want to keep playing solid all through the night. You’re going to have ups and downs but when you’re playing long sessions the people you’re up against are playing long sessions too.
Great thread James i voted to ban them i've not played many live games but the ones i have played there were no sunglasses at all. For me Live Poker is about getting reads on people so lets get rid of the sunglasses
If you are not good enough to read someone with glasses on then you shouldn't be playing/
Thats my opinon.