You're a Bunch of Factors

Lesson: 6
Why I Leave My Sunglasses And iPod At Home
Howard Lederer
April 25, 2005
Why Sunglasses and Headphones Aren't For MeI know this newsletter is being written for an online poker site, but I hope that
most of you still find time to play live poker. As much as I love online poker, I
would never completely give up sitting at a table and getting the chance to
size up an opponent. This week's lesson will examine why I think it is a
mistake to wear headphones or sunglasses during live play.
Poker is a game of information. You give information to your opponents, and
they give information to you. Most of that information is in the form of betting
patterns, which is why online poker is such a great form of the game. All of
the betting information is right there for you to use while playing a hand. But
when you play live, there is a small amount of additional information that is
given off through physical tells and audio cues. I am a very visual player, and
am blessed with good eyesight. I wear contacts, and with them, my vision is
20/15. I constantly use my eyes to take in every nuance of what's going on
around me at the table. If I wore sunglasses, much of that information would
be lost to me. I am confident that the information I take in with my eyes far
exceeds what I give away.
If you currently employ sunglasses when you play, I would encourage you to
try playing without them. Yeah, you look cool in them. Maybe. But, if you try
playing without them while staying committed to taking in as much visual
information as possible, you might find that not only are you doing better, the
game is suddenly more interesting as well.
I reserve special scorn for the rampant use of headphones in poker
tournaments. They slow down the action and, on the whole, I believe they
hurt the people who use them. When a player throws a single, large chip into
the pot, he usually announces 'raise' or 'call'. But all the guys at the table
wearing headphones can't hear the call. Invariably, they have to take off their
headphones and ask the dealer what the bet is. It is annoying when the action
comes to a grinding halt to clarify something that anyone without headphones
already knows. Also, poker is a social game. It would make me sad if poker
someday becomes a game where nine people are sitting at a table listening to
music, and no one is talking to one another.
Also, there are some valuable things you can pick up on simply by paying
attention to the conversation around the table. You can sometimes tell when
someone is over his head just by listening to him talk. In a recent tournament,
I won a very large pot as we were nearing the last few tables because I heard
someone speaking a few minutes earlier.
It was the Bellagio $15K WPT poker tournament. The blinds were $4K-$8K
and I was in the big blind. A player who'd been playing very tight so far
opened the pot from an early position for $25K. The small blind called and I
looked down at 9-9. I often re-raise with this hand, but this seemed like a
good time to just call. The flop was 8s 5s 3c. The small blind checked and,
with about $275K in front of me and $100K in the pot, I continued playing
cautiously and checked. The opener checked, too. The turn was (8s 5s 3c) 6c
and the small blind checked. I felt like I must have the best hand, so I bet
$50K. I was very surprised when the original opener raised all-in for a total of
$175K. The small blind folded and now I had a big $125K decision to make. If
I call and win, I have $550K and am in great shape. If I call and lose I'm in
real trouble.
I didn't think he had a big hand, but it didn't seem like a very good bluffing
situation either. The board looked really dangerous. Plus, I hadn't seen this
player get out of line at all. But then I remembered a comment he had made
to his neighbor about ten minutes earlier. He had hardly played a hand for
about an hour, and said to the guy next him that his cards had been so bad, it
would have been just as well if he had stayed in his room after the last break.
Erick Lindgren
2 of 2 8/16/2005 1:15 AM
Remembering that comment, I felt there was a good chance that he was
frustrated. With that factored in, I made the call. He turned over the Kd-Qd,
and with a 2 on the river, I won a key hand that put me in great shape in a
big tournament. If I had been listening to music, I don't think I could have
made the call.
Poker is a game of information. Sunglasses might keep some information from
getting out, but they stop more from coming in. Headphones simply give you
fewer opportunities to gain valuable information about other players. These
are handicaps I am not willing to spot my opponents.
Howard Lederer

I thought forumers may find this useful

nice post bruce - wow you have actually added something to a conversation!!

seriously though, i think at our level, the sunglasses bit is more about confidence than anything else - you feel like you have a better poker face, whether or not you actually do.

I have my own comments to make on those who wear sunnies.

But I'm afraid I would upset too many guys on here.

People who wear sunnies at regular NPL events look like wannabes who have watched too many WPT or WSOP episodes.

The same can be said for anyone who wears sunnies at a poker table but in big buy in tournaments I can understand why some people feel the need to hide.

Sunglasses hide--

1/.ugly is one word that comes to mind.

2/.refer Collingwoods new promo. --- Bennymacca you are.....
with/without sunglasses ??

3/.self confidence is a helpful attribute in Poker and Life.

bruceklm wrote:2/.refer Collingwoods new promo. --- Bennymacca you are.....
with/without sunglasses ??

ah.... what????


putting this into my enigma machine, i think bruce is asking me whether i wear sunnies or not

well personally i dont, and i think that people do it because they think they are cool, and it very rarely helps their poker ability

but each to their own i guess

all comes down to how much the sunnies cost

expensive must be good

stolen from work saftey glasses not so good

Garth Kay wrote:I have my own comments to make on those who wear sunnies.

But I'm afraid I would upset too many guys on here.

People who wear sunnies at regular NPL events look like wannabes who have watched too many WPT or WSOP episodes.

The same can be said for anyone who wears sunnies at a poker table but in big buy in tournaments I can understand why some people feel the need to hide.

Very true Garth and a good read Bruce.

I hate the ipod thingy with a vengence. I hate them even moreso when two people sitting together are sharing the earpieces.

I go to play poker and chat with the players during the game for my entertainment. The last thing I wanna hear is two wankers singing (so out of tune) to the same bloody songs and missing the table talk.

Not to mention the verbal checks, bets, raises and calls!!!!

I can understand that a huge tourney say at the Casino that you intend to play over a few days may need motivational or relaxing music or something similar to keep you going. But, surely not for NPL pub poker with a maximum 3 to 4 hour time span.

Next thing will be hooking up to the internet on their bloody phones or mini tv's or friggin play station type games to keep them amused.

I say if mobile phones aren't allowed at the NPL tables then other items such as above should also be banned at the table.

Bob I have to disagree on the ipod

i myself have my ipod on while playing, i have the volume at a level where i can hear everything that is going on around me and i only ever wear one ear piece. But there are time in a poker room where i do want to tune out or not listen to someones theory on the state of the world, so with a little adjustment that can be solved.

But they should never be worn to the point where a player makes countless mistakes or continually questains wats going on

one of the reasons i love poker is the fact that it is a very social game.

personally i think the people that use ipods are not concentrating enough on the game, and they need something else to take their boredom away - these people are easy chips a lot of the time, because they aren't paying enough attention

i like the fact that in poker i would talk to a lot of different people that i would never otherwise talk to in any other setting.

sometimes this is a bad thing - plenty of stinky bogans that wanna talk your ear off the whole time

but there are also some really nice people out there - at the state finals, i was sitting next to this older lady (i think it was tony bickles wife) and she was one of the nicest old ladies you would meet.

people that put their sunnies on and listen to music may as well stay home and play online

Not everyone can multi-task, I guess

I'm in the same boat as Matty - if I have the ipod on, it's only the left ear, and it's in no way a distraction to the task at hand.

I've had to tell more people who are gas-bagging to someone else on the table, or even worse, another table, that the action is on them etc etc etc than people with personal music devices.