Poker fashion

In live poker games, one common debate centers around the effectiveness of wearing sunglasses and hats at the table. Many players believe these accessories provide a psychological advantage by hiding facial expressions, eye movements, and even nervous ticks that might give away information. Professional players often rely on a “poker face,” and sunglasses can enhance this strategy by making it harder for opponents to read subtle tells. Similarly, hats can create a barrier, shielding body language and maintaining focus. On the other hand, critics argue that these items offer only minimal protection. Skilled opponents usually rely more on betting patterns, timing, and overall behavior than on visual cues, making sunglasses and hats less impactful than some might think. In fact, wearing them can sometimes draw unwanted attention or make a player appear inexperienced. So, are these accessories truly powerful tools, or simply a matter of personal comfort and style?

I can't rule out that there are some people who get a lot more out of faces than I do, but imE all of this stuff is super marginal. When I try to study a player for live tells I don't even start with his face; I'm much more interested in his hands. I've had some success correlating betting movements with bluff vs. value assessments, which is super valuable information whenever you can use it. The timing at which players check their hole cards can also tell you something. Obviously sunglasses and hats don't do anything to help against that.

I've only ever seen one face-based live tell where I'm very confident that it was a genuine tell -- I was looking at a guy's face as the Flop was dealt, and he immediately looked away from it, which indicates that he hit something. (The hand went to showdown and he flopped trips.) And I didn't even have any ability to make use of the information. I think this is a real thing (looking away when they hit something) but it happens so rarely and even if it happens, it can only ever tell you that they're strong, which is not always helpful. (The reverse pattern, to keep looking at the Flop as it's dealt, is much less informative.)

But idk, there are other potential tells from faces, like how genuine their smiles are. I have really shitty facial memory, so maybe this is related with very low skill in reading comfort from facial expressions. So I don't want to rule out that they could matter more with other people. But yeah if you were playing against me, you should worry much less about anything in your face, and much more about how you put your chips in when you bet.

primrose said:

I can't rule out that there are some people who get a lot more out of faces than I do, but imE all of this stuff is super marginal. When I try to study a player for live tells I don't even start with his face; I'm much more interested in his hands. I've had some success correlating betting movements with bluff vs. value assessments, which is super valuable information whenever you can use it. The timing at which players check their hole cards can also tell you something. Obviously sunglasses and hats don't do anything to help against that.

I've only ever seen one face-based live tell where I'm very confident that it was a genuine tell -- I was looking at a guy's face as the Flop was dealt, and he immediately looked away from it, which indicates that he hit something. (The hand went to showdown and he flopped trips.) And I didn't even have any ability to make use of the information. I think this is a real thing (looking away when they hit something) but it happens so rarely and even if it happens, it can only ever tell you that they're strong, which is not always helpful. (The reverse pattern, to keep looking at the Flop as it's dealt, is much less informative.)

But idk, there are other potential tells from faces, like how genuine their smiles are. I have really shitty facial memory, so maybe this is related with very low skill in reading comfort from facial expressions. So I don't want to rule out that they could matter more with other people. But yeah if you were playing against me, you should worry much less about anything in your face, and much more about how you put your chips in when you bet.

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Behavioral psychologists can tell if you're lying by a look, a smile, or a facial gesture.

Reddog888 said:

Behavioral psychologists can tell if you're lying by a look, a smile, or a facial gesture.

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Fwiw I think this is mostly a pop-culture myth. Claude rates it 3/10 for truth.

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Depends on the oponent probably, can be useless if no one look for physical tells, but can be useful if the oponent relies on it.
Depends on the table, but I probably would not use sun glasses in a poker table.
The hat maybe if its cool, I had nice hats before so who knows XD
God bless

I think it really depends on the player. For some, sunglasses and hats help them feel more confident and focused, but for experienced players, tells usually come from betting patterns rather than facial expressions. So it’s probably more about comfort than real advantage.

I honestly don't think it matters.

Good players still refer back to a base strategy and then will maybe make an adjustment based on a player's history or as you said pick up on a twinge in their neck in a high stress spot or other visual cue. However they aren't wildly adjusting their strategy because they saw the dude in the hoodie, sunglasses and a ball cap swallowed an odd amount of times after putting his chips all in, that's now how the game is played as cool as it looks for a Hollywood movie.

Also don't forget, when you get up into the top echelon of live players, they are also asking themselves these questions, they have rehearsed movements that are designed and coached into showing as little information as possible, will sometimes intentionally be giving off misleading information or at the very least keeping track of their patterns.

Doug Polk talks about a game where he had been talking the last 2 hands he had value so he consciously kept a conversation going during the 3rd hand that was a similar spot where he was bluffing... Because if people looked at the video and saw he talks with value and is quiet while bluffing they can implement that into how they play against him.

Unless you're a top 0.1% player where you're trying to claw back the last 0.05bbs of EV in a hand there are much easier low hanging fruits to focus on.

I don't care if my opponent is showing every visible sign in the world that he is bluffing if it's a spot no one ever bluffs in, him sweating like a sailor during Sunday service could just be an act, but if he's good enough to triple barrel with a bdfd bdsd with an over card that picks up equity on the turn and bricks on the river while sweating like a sailor in Sunday service while getting you to fold your marginal bluff catcher on the river that's just good poker baby!

Hope this helps

GL

EDS

In my own personal experience I did better with glasses than without however that could just mean I had a few lucky nights. Sunglasses make me feel more confident and the irony is that I rarely have the confidence to wear them.

I would say that as you said, the best players don't let themselves be carried away by appearances and rely more on the pattern of play, but recently I saw that a professional poker player, who is zero, in one of his videos shown as due to an unusual reaction from his opponent discovered that he should pay, of course, it's not always going to work out because personally I like to pretend that “I'm thinking” in situations where I have good or bad hands, but playing live and depending on the player's profile I think it's interesting, I would personally use it, I'm not that Good for not showing any facial expression asajsjas
.. the video:

alucaa said:

Yo diría que como bien dices los mejores jugadores no se dejan llevar por las apariencias y se basan más en el patrón de juego, pero hace poco vi que un jugador profesional de poker, que es cero, en uno de sus vídeos se mostraba como debido a una reacción inusual de su oponente descubrió que debía pagar, claro que no siempre va a salir bien porque personalmente me gusta aparentar que “estoy pensando” en situaciones en las que tengo buenas o malas manos, pero jugando en vivo y dependiendo del perfil del jugador me parece interesante, yo personalmente lo usaría, no soy tan bueno para no mostrar ninguna expresión facial asajsjas
.. el vídeo:

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I also found this video:
Sorry for sending so many videos jasja

I think sunglasses and hats are fine and it's more of a confidence boost than an actual tell obstruction. I will say there should be limits. Wearing sunglasses, a hood, and a facemask should be banned. It's already poor etiquette in my opinion. I think facemasks should be banned all together. If someone is actually wearing one for health reasons, it should have to be completely clear.

If you really want to discourage people from reading you, or even looking in your general direction, wear mirrored sunglasses. I can't stand looking into those things.

yes, where those always, <3 FOR all of us

I do not like glasses and such on the table. I think it is silly.

I like to use accessories that keep my facial sign hidden, is harder for the others player to read me.