Should sunglasses be banned at the poker table?
After cheating accusations at the WSOP, Barry Carter asks if it's time to get rid of sunglasses in live poker?
A major controversy of the 2015 World Series of Poker has involved cheating allegations in the $10,000 Heads-Up Championship. While I don’t want to comment on the specifics of that event, some of the allegations have suggested that a form of card marking in conjunction with special sunglasses, could be used to cheat.
Daniel Negreanu has for a long time suggested that sunglasses are a form of cheating (He believes that players should not be allowed to hide potential tells with them) and was among the first to bring the debate back up:
The most commonly used legal cheating device in poker? Sunglasses. Should have been banned years ago. Why make it easy for cheats?
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) June 4, 2015
A player wearing sunglasses is at least 1000 times more likely to be marking cards. Not all sunglass wearers are cheats obviously.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) June 4, 2015
No real reason to wear them
I personally think it’s a stretch to say that sunglasses give you a big edge at the table. First of all, I don’t think the majority of players are good enough at spotting physical tells for it to have a big impact on the game. I also think that wearing sunglasses in and of itself is a huge tell, which more often than not gives away the fact that you are uncomfortable playing live.
If I did have an issue, historically, with sunglasses at the table it is that they are just a little unsociable. The people wearing them, whether it’s on purpose or not, come across as a little standoffish. At the end of the day, unless you have a medical reason, there is no real reason to wear them at the table, and I tend to air towards whatever makes the game more fun and sociable for recreational players.
(One genuine exception, however, is if the light from the cameras on a TV table are becoming a problem, which did actually happen last year at the November Nine final with Jorryt Van Hoof.)
A technological threat
There is, however, quite a serious technological threat on the horizon where sunglasses are concerned. Although Google Glass has been shelved, there is little doubt that wearable technology is the next big thing. The opportunities to cheat in the future with the clothes that you wear are only going to increase.
Of course, that is not just limited to sunglasses. I hear that contact lenses can quite easily be used to cheat in this way, and I am still surprised to this day that headphones are allowed at the table (I would love to see them banned for the different reason that they really slow down the game).
Technology is becoming so deeply embedded in society that realistically banning sunglasses at the table would only be the tip of the iceberg where wearable technology and the potential to cheat is concerned. Generally I’d much rather broader steps to make it much harder for technology in general to be around the poker table.
However, I’d still support a total banning of sunglasses (other than ones needed for medical reasons) for a few simple reasons. It’s easy to do, just like saying “English only at the table” you could enforce it politely and simply. Sunglasses ultimately are unnecessary indoors, so it’s hard to argue against keeping them on.
Finally, it would just send out a message that cheating is taken very seriously and cheaters would think twice about doing it. Just like you can no longer take liquids through airport security, it would make the card room intimidating for potential cheaters, rather than them seeing it as a chance to take candy from a baby.
Do you think sunglasses should be banned? Do you wear them at the tables? Let us know in the comments.
