Why do the poker players were the sunglases when they are playing the poker inside?

Question

Why do the poker players were the sunglases when they are playing the poker inside?

Answer 1

Because a lot can be read by a person's eyes.  I don't care how stone-faced a poker player can be, the eyes can still give away a lot as to whether they have a great hand or if they are bluffing.  There's a saying that goes "The eyes are the windows to the soul".  In poker, the eyes are the windows to what kind of hand you've got.

Answer 2

They wear them because, over the millennia, we have evolved to respond to certain situations instinctively, and these responses are controlled by the limbic portion of our brain.  These reactions may only last a millisecond, but they are almost impossible to control.  Some simply CANNOT be controlled.  These reactions can be used to determine if you hold a good hand or are bluffing.  In other words, they're tells.  Wearing sunglasses obscures these tells, making it more difficult for others to determine the proper response to your actions.  Here are some examples.

A player who sees their hole cards/flop/turn/river and immediately glances for a second at their chips has improved their hand.  This is extremely common, many world class pros do it, and extremely difficult to avoid.  Wearing sunglasses will keep people from noticing your eyes dart to your chips.  That alone will save you money.

When we see something we like our pupils dilate to see more of it.  When we see something we don't like our pupils contract.  This is entirely involuntary.  In "Read 'em and Reap" the author talks about a poker game where reading the dilation of the pupils was enough to keep one player from losing all his chips with the second best hand.  This could have been avoided if he were wearing sunglasses.

I'm sure you've heard of your eyes darting left or right depending on whether you're lying or telling the truth.  If the person is telling the truth, his eyes will look up and to the left. A person's eyes will do this when they are accessing information from their memory. Interestingly enough, the memory portion of your brain is located on the left side. On the other hand, if the person is lying, his eyes will look up and right. Eyes will do this when they are accessing information from imagination.  This isn't as prevalent in poker, but if you're watching someone BEFORE they decide to bet, and they're not aware that you're watching, you will sometimes see this tell.  Sometimes it's downright blatant!  Sunglasses keep people from picking up on this tell.

When faced with a potential bet, someone who wants the bet to happen will try not to do anything to discourage it.  They will often look away, and try to appear as harmless as possible.  On the other hand a player who wants you not to bet will try to intimidate you, and staring you down is one way to make it happen.  This is instinctive.  Wearing sunglasses allows them to let their eyes do what they need to do while keeping their head stationary.  Is your opponent staring at you, looking away, or ogling the cocktail waitress?  You can't tell, because he's wearing sunglasses.

These are just a few examples, but the eyes give away a lot of information.  Whether you're a fish or a pro, some responses simply cannot be controlled.  If you can't control them, conceal them.

Answer 3

Part of the concept of poker is the ability to bluff, or misrepresent your hand as something it is not.  In other words lying.

The theory goes that expert players may notice a slight facial expression, an unconscious gesture or movement that betrays the true strength of your hand.  You've probably heard the expression that the eyes are the windows to the soul.  And while that may be a bit of an exaggeration, certainly an inexperienced player may give away a little something with their eyes.

When wearing sunglasses it obscures the eyes.  This certainly takes away one of the ways other players might get a read on you.  But it also has the added bonus that people are less aware of what you are looking at.  You can be closely watching another player but because they cannot see your eyes, they don't know that you are watching them.

Finally, if you are playing in a major tournament, there are often a lot of bright lights, which can wear on the eyes after a while.  Some of these major tournaments can go on for days, and if you are fortunate enough to make the final table they will have all kinds studio lights shining on you, along with various special effects lighting that often moves around changing shape and color.  I've never made a televised final table, but I imagine that is quite a lot to deal with after a few days of intense poker playing (it takes a lot of concentration to play poker for long periods of time).  So the sunglasses would make it easier to cope with that final table.

So there are a lot of good reasons for doing it.  The trick is not to wear sunglasses that are very dark, since that will make it harder to see the cards.  Red or brown lenses can make the red cards harder to read.  So you have to think a little in terms of practicality as well as looking good.

Some of the top pros look down on the concept as trying to hide.  A 'real pro' wouldn't need to hide behind glasses.  On the flip side there are other pros like eleven WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, and top pro Chris Ferguson who seem to think it is great idea.

Personally, I like to wear some fairly light gray lens Tag Heuer in tournaments.  They don't completely obscure my eyes but they do allow me to sneak a look at another players subtly.  I find in long tournaments it is more restful on the eyes too.

Answer 4

Some players are very expert at reading peoples faces,especially there eyes.The sunglasses make them feel like they have an advantage over the other players as they cant try to read there eyes to tell if they are bluffing a hand or not.

Answer 5

to hide some "eye novels"...a picture says a thousand words,the eyes says a million.but stay focused on your cards or look normal

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Answer 6

because that way the other players cant see there expression when they have a hand

Answer 7

They wear them to avoid giving off a tell. A tell is when someone can read your body language, eye movement, hand movement or many other things to determine if you are nervous. For example say you have made a large bet and your opponent begins to stare you down. If you are not wearing glasses and your eyes are darting from side to side it would be safe to assume that you are bluffing and the opponent can make the call.

Answer 8

So the other players can't see their eyes. Take Phil Locke aka the unibomber he takes a coat and puts it all the way over his head.

Answer 9

To hide their eyes and let an emotion slip.

Contrary on the popular belief, these are the best poker players to go after, as they are telling you they have not learned to control themselves yet. If you see a poker player wearing sungalsses - look for other exploits, he/she will have plenty of other "tells" they are not aware of.