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Don't show, don't tell
Published: 2005-11-05
 Poker players disagree over whether sunglasses, hats should be worn at the table
CAROL MCALICE CURRIE
Statesman Journal
November 5, 2005
Call it deception or strategy, but as poker grows in popularity, so does the controversy about what's appropriate attire at the felt tabletops.
Here in Oregon, where state law prohibits betting at poker events and people 21 and older are playing for points and prizes, the controversy is riling serious and sport players alike.
Cesar Leon, a Dallas resident who's been playing cards for just a few months, was at a poker table Thursday night at the Southside Speakeasy Brew Pub. He said the need for gimmicks in the game is tiring. Although he was wearing a cap indoors, he said he doesn't wear sunglasses, even when the sun is out.
"I don't play that way," Leon said, referring to the need to hide eyes or faces. "I play strategically. If I got a pair of pocket kings, I play 'em. Doesn't matter what I'm wearing."
But Salem resident Dennis Mansfield, sitting at a table next to Leon's, defended the sunglasses he was wearing indoors in low light after 8 p.m., saying they were part of his strategy.
"It allows me to watch other people without them knowing I'm watching them," Mansfield said.
"But it's not always about the eyes in poker, even though a lot of people think so," he said. "How people go to their chips, whether they pause or go fast, all that can be far more telling than a person's eyes."
Bryann Turner, the president of a group of Willamette University students known as the Poker Society, said he finds sunglasses, hooded sweatshirts, hats and caps and headphones annoying.
He believes they give some players an unfair advantage by taking away one of the "tells" of the game.
A tell is an action that gives clues about the cards someone is holding.
Turner thinks eye contact is necessary, although some players never look others in the eyes.
Turner said that tells can be the way a player handles chips, the amount of their bet or their action in previous hands, but he also looks to make eye contact.
"Our games (Sunday nights at Lefty's Pizzeria on State Street) are supposed to be friendly games," Turner said about the Poker Society games.
"We come to play and have fun. It's nice to talk to other players, and the sunglasses don't add to the social aspect at all. It probably doesn't matter to professional players because they are disciplined and use other skills, but I'd be all for a ban on them," said Turner, who is a junior biochemistry major.
Annie Duke, considered by many to be the best female poker player in the world and who has a home in Portland for when she's not on tour, told the Statesman Journal that she thinks there should be a ban on sunglasses in poker.
"I think it's part of the skill of the game," said Duke, who won $2 million in the 2004 No-Limit Texas Hold-'em World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions.
"Players shouldn't be able to conceal their eyes. I liken it to a pitcher in baseball being able to put Vaseline on his hands before throwing a ball. We don't allow that, and we shouldn't allow sunglasses either. I support the call in Europe to ban sunglasses from the game."
Josh Hilfiker, a Salem resident who's been playing poker for about a year, said he wears the hood of his sweatshirt up indoors for a variety of reasons.
"Sometimes, like tonight, I'm cold, but it's usually something I just like to do. It's only for poker, but I'm not superstitious or anything," Hilfiker said.
He noted that as recently as two weeks ago, far more players were wearing sweatshirt hoods and sunglasses.
"But after coming every night, they've come to know these people, and they're not strangers anymore. It's a little more relaxed," Hilfiker said.
He thinks some of those players might have been trying to imitate celebrity and professional poker players, and now that friends they're with their fellow players, they're getting rid of the props.
Last year's World Champion of Poker, Grey "The Fossil Man" Raymer, told MidWest Gaming & Travel magazine that he wears his infamous lizard-eye sunglasses mostly as a joke, but he admits that some players hate looking at him when he's wearing the scaly shades.
He said he could understand a television ban because the glasses are not exactly "viewer friendly." But he believes the props are becoming a traditional part of poker.
"There are so many ways to get a tell on somebody, it's not always about the eyes," said Sandie Zimmerman, a Salem resident who is the current points leader with Texas Holdem Entertainment Group, the company that organizes nightly games at locations throughout the Mid-Valley.
"I prefer to concentrate more on my hand than on what people are wearing."
Although the 35 or so people playing Thursday night were divided about what constitutes acceptable attire at a poker game, they all agreed it was terrific that they could play poker every night. Many of the regulars, do, in fact, play nightly.
"I'm just thrilled to be able to play every night," Hilfiker said. "It doesn't cost me much, and it's the best entertainment around. I love it."
ccurrie@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6746
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Born To Nguyen
Published: 2005-11-02
 By Mike Capshaw
The Morning News
FAYETTEVILLE -- Poker fanatics from Northwest Arkansas were "all-in" at Sugar Mountain Bar & Grill on Saturday afternoon for the arrival of Scotty Nguyen, the 1998 World Series of Poker champion.
The final hand in the main event that year made Nguyen famous. He told opponent Kevin McBride, "You call this one, and it's all over baby." Hoping the full house on the board would split the pot, McBride called. Nguyen flipped over a 9 for a higher full house to win $1 million and the most coveted title in poker.
Nguyen (appropriately pronounced "Win") and his entourage arrived in a white stretch limousine, matching his pearly white jacket and sparkling diamonds of his four WSOP bracelets.
Classy sure, but Nguyen proved he was an average joe minutes before signing every autograph and posing for pictures at Sugar Mountain, a regular host of free poker tournaments.
"I think we're the first ones in Arkansas to take a stretch limo through the drive through at McDonald's," Nguyen said, drawing a laugh from the crowd. "This is my first time in Arkansas and I love it. I love the people and the hospitality. I love the country and the food ... It's great baby!"
Fans showed plenty of love for Nguyen, who punctuates most sentences with "Baby!"
"I'm really happy and surprised that he would come to Northwest Arkansas," said Sean Pitman of Fayetteville. "It says here (point to an autograph) 'See you at the WSOP 2006,' so he must already know I'm a good player and know I'll be there."
Apparently, Pitman wasn't the only "good" player in the room.
"He was very genuine," said Karen Jobe of Springdale. "He autographed my shirt and autographed my picture. He said he'd see me at the 2006 World Series of Poker, which was nice."
Ladies especially seemed fond of Nguyen. He gave most a kiss on the cheek after posing for pictures. It was OK, though, since his girlfriend and agent Julie Ratcliff, who's from Tulsa, rarely left his side.
"He's lost thousands of dollars in blinds over the years because he's with fans," Ratcliffe said. "He stops everything for his fans."
Nguyen was in town to promote the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge, a series of No Limit, Texas Hold'em tournaments at three different Cherokee Casinos (West Siloam Springs, Roland and Tulsa) in Oklahoma. It began Saturday and ends with the finals in Tulsa on Sunday.
It's part of a recently signed deal with Cherokee Casinos that will keep Nguyen in Oklahoma for 12 weeks over the next year. Besides hosting the biggest tourney in the state's history, he'll be available to host seminars on strategy, play in the casinos, provide tips to local players and help dealers perfect techniques.
"Poker, it's the only sport that gives everyone a chance to win. That's why it's growing," Nguyen said. "All ages can play. You don't have to be like 6-foot-4 or 100 percent healthy to play the game. You can sit at home in a wheel chair and as long as you're healthy up here (pointing to his head), you can play the game.
"I'd rather see a young kid in this day following poker than sitting out on the street and drinking or doing drugs or fighting or whatever. In poker, anybody can become somebody.
"I'm living proof."
Titles include Pot Limit Omaha at the 2001 WSOP, Omaha High Low at the 1997 WSOP, two World Poker Open titles at Foxwoods (including one championship event worth $300,000), Limit Hold'em and Seven-Card Stud at the 2003 Legends of Poker, and Omaha Hi-Lo and seven-card stud at the 2003 Festa al Lago.
Nguyen, who has finished in the money in more than 100 tourneys since 2000, recently wrapped up the Poker Superstars II tournament, a Fox Sports Net broadcast which pits 32 of the top players in a bracket-type format.
"I got knocked out fourth, so when I walked out, I'm very disappointed and the camera crew said, 'Ah man, no Scotty Nguyen. No cameras,'" Nguyen said. "It made me feel good because they said I make the game more exciting. 'When Scotty's on, all the TVs are turned on. When Scotty's out, they're off.'
"Without the fans, there's none of this. A guy like me wouldn't be recognized anywhere."
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