Wearing glasses when you play poker is a personal choice we all make.  I save the glasses for situations where I think I need them.  I always have a pair on me when I’m playing live poker, just in case they can be of use to me.  If my opponents are making tough calls when I’m bluffing, or betting into me every time I miss a flop, I will put on the glasses to try and hide whatever it is my opponents may be picking up.

A lot of top pros don’t use the shades; it says something about your ability if you can be successful without them.  The whole poker-face thing, you know what I mean?  But if you feel more secure behind a pair of specs you should use them.  The best thing about wearing the shades is that you can watch opponents without them knowing you’re taking in their every move.

Greg Raymer has taken the whole poker glasses thing a step further.  He wears novelty lizard eyeshades that not only mask his expressions but also throw off his opponents a bit.  I don’t think it gives him a huge advantage, but it will always be his trademark.  Phil Hellmuth is so attached to his shades that it’s hard to see him without them on.

Like every other product around poker, the sunglasses industry has evolved during this poker boom.  The newest thing in poker glasses are Pokerlenz glasses that are designed to block out your opponents view of your eyes while still keeping things bright and easy to see.  These are not sunglasses and shouldn’t be used as such – they’re just for poker.  They can fill prescriptions, or the regular ones can be worn with contacts.  The frames are made to wrap around the wearer’s head so that opponents can’t see where you’re looking.

If you give off physical tells that you can’t seem to correct then the use of  glasses to help hide these tells is a useful strategic defense when you play.  Feeling secure when you play is more important than most of us think, so go ahead and wear glasses if your game is suffering from the ease with which opponents can get a read on you.