Can you imagine Greg Raymer without his orange fossils? Or Marcel Luske
not wearing his sunglasses upside down? Of course not. Its an essential
part of their image, something like a trademark. We can bring them into
line with Johnny Chans orange and Benny Binions
hat. However, there are a lot of people now who say that sunglasses
should be banned at casinos. Why is that? Lets try to figure it out.
If you want to find out when the sunglasses were invented, youll see
that they were already used in China in the 12th century or possibly
even earlier. They were made of smoky quartz in those times and
protected not only from the sunshine but from the sights of other
people. Those who wear sunglasses leave almost no chance for anybody to
read their emotions. Contemporary documents describe the use of such
glasses by judges in Chinese courts to conceal their facial expressions
while questioning witnesses. Yes, facing a person wearing sunglasses
we feel at a loss because we dont know what he is thinking about and
even where he is looking at. This fact is used widely by modern poker
players (I emphasize the word modern meaning the players of the new
wave. You cant imagine the old-time players using that tricks). They
wear shades to make it difficult for their opponents to read them and
probably to hide some tells. I wear prescription sunglasses, says one
poker player I love them because simply wearing them makes you look
scarier plus, I'm able to watch people look at their hole cards, the
flop, turn and river, without them ever knowing I'm staring dead at
them. That is crucial for the way I read players. If people don't know
your staring at them, they do some pretty stupid things... So he does
not even hide the fact that those who wear sunglasses have more
advantages and chances to win. It is on a part with the issue of drug
taking in cycling or athletics, it was written in one article. So a
lot of people now say that sunglasses should be banned at casinos. Well,
in fact, I dont think this little thing is that bad. If a person has a
habit of expressing tells, sunglasses wont help him as he might be read
through his voice, movements etc. And if a player feels more comfortable
wearing his sunglasses - why not to let him do it? If you do not to
give him any advantage, just go and buy those for yourself. By the way
sometimes they can do harm to you. I tried to wear sunglasses once at
the World Series and misread my hand, recalls Phil Ivey.
I threw them into the garbage can, and they were $1,100 sunglasses they
cost me a $100,000 pot. So who is talking about advantages here? Its
poker, thats it.
