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Poker Tip
Howard Lederer
April 25, 2005
Why Sunglasses and Headphones Aren't For Me
I 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. 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
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