Kim Kardashian was wearing mirrored sunglasses when she played in a charity poker tournament in Texas in 2018. She received plenty of reactions to the photo of her wearing these sunglasses. The Kardashians usually cause a stir and people will often judge what they do. Many people were quite vocal in their reactions on social media platforms. Some said she was a ‘moron’ and ‘stupid’ for wearing the sunglasses. Did she have any legitimate reason for doing what she did or were the harsh words warranted?
Many poker pros do the same
Kim Kardashian was in good company when choosing to wear mirrored sunglasses. Many professional poker players do the same. If they choose to do so, there are probably some good reasons for this.
Cards are unlikely to be seen in the reflection
People thought Kim was stupid for wearing mirrored sunglasses because they believed the cards could be seen in the reflection. This would have been highly unlikely. Poker players almost never pick up their cards to see what they’ve been dealt. They will bend the corner of the card just enough to take a look. This is what Kim did while playing so she had probably done her homework.
Even when holding cards in their hands, opponents are unlikely to see them in the reflection. The cards would need to line up exactly with the sunglasses, and opponents would have to be at just the right angle to see them.
Mirrored sunglasses hide the eyes
Poker is a game that requires players to bluff. It is hard for their eyes not to give them away when bluffing. They may be able to control their body language but it’s harder to control what their eyes convey. Mirrored sunglasses are opaque which means that they hide the expression in the eyes.
When using a poker app, there are other tells poker players have to use to see if someone is bluffing. They can’t rely on body language or the look in someone’s eyes.
The reflection confuses opponents
Opponents can see reflections in mirrored sunglasses instead of the eyes of the player. This can cause the brain to become confused after some time. Focus and concentration are of utmost importance when playing in major poker tournaments. Any distractions can disrupt play and cause opponents to lose their focus.
Kim has beautiful eyes and she can dazzle in style with her outfits. Apart from carefully selecting her outfit, she probably chose to wear sunglasses so her opponents could only see irrelevant reflections instead of her eyes. Their brains would try to make sense of the reflections which could take up the time they could use to make good decisions.
The photo went viral
Kim Kardashian has one of the most-followed Instagram accounts and knows what publicity can do. The photo of her wearing the sunglasses went viral which her marketing team could most likely have predicted ahead of time. Kim was probably sponsored by the sunglasses brand which was most likely very happy about the exposure it received.
Sunglasses look cool
Live poker tournaments receive plenty of media coverage and sunglasses can make a player look cool. A confident look helps and sunglasses can have this effect, especially if a player has a weak hand. One of the drawbacks is that in a dimly lit room, it may be difficult to see the cards. Phil Ivey had this happen to him when playing at the WSOP and threw his sunglasses away. Other players like Phil Laak are hard to recognize without their sunglasses. Greg Raymer is also known for his shades.
