Stare Wars... It's Glaring and Blatant

Usually it’s considered rude to stare, but in poker it’s a perfectly legitimate tactic. When a player is involved in a pot, he’ll often lock eyes with his opponent. Many players do this to extract a tell, and others to suggest strength. But Daniel Negreanu reckons there’s another reason players do it – to bug the hell out of you.

“Whenever you re-raise them or raise their blinds, you have to put up with their five minute stare-down,” he writes, reasoning that the theory seems to be that, after taking a few eyeballing, players will be less likely to tangle with their opponent.

If somebody wants to fix their beady eye on you, there’s not a great deal that you can do about it.

On the World Poker Tour’s Season 2 episode of Bad Boys of Poker, Phil Laak, whenever he made a move and came under scrutiny, would retreat inside his hoodie! But such a move would be forbidden in a real casino game, so what else is there that you can do to avoid unwelcoming stares?

One is to wear sunglasses. One of the main reasons players wear shades at the poker table is to observe others without them realizing it. But another big reason is that players can appear to be bravely staring back at their opponent, when in fact they’re closing their eyes or merely watching the match on TV.