For poker players, poker pros and even those who play internet poker, tells are always an issue. While it is a different issue depending upon whether or not you are playing your Texas holdem live or at an internet poker table, the reality is that opposing poker players and poker pros will be dissecting everything about you to find some chink in your Texas holdem armor. That is why many folks do their best at the poker table to obscure their features or develop a poker face that is set in stone. Towards this goal of keeping people from reading their faces rounds of Texas Holdem, the pharmaceutical industry may have given poker players and poker pros a little help.
Chemicals have often been a part of the Texas holdem industry. There are a minority of live and internet poker players/poker pros have used cocaine to get a little instant energy during long sessions at the poker table. We aren’t talking about that type of chemical help though. Botox may become the new things for those at the Texas holdem poker table who can’t accomplish a poker face on their own.
In the book “Beauty Junkies” by Alex Kuczynski (an inside look at the cosmetic surgery industry), the author is approached by a Vegas casino owner who is thinking of opening a full service spa in their casino. This spa would handle everything from hair to some cosmetic surgical procedures. One of the things that were mentioned was the value of Botox to poker players and poker pros. During the conversation, the casino owner joked “What about all the players who can’t do a successful poker face on their own? This way they can just buy a poker face.” Behind most jokes is a grain of truth, and a lot of poker players and poker pros would probably not scoff at the idea of using Botox to gain an advantage over their competition at the Texas holdem poker table.
A decent poker face is generally a skill that needs to be learned. While some come by it naturally, most develop theirs with time and experience. Internet poker players and much of the upcoming crop of competitors are not known for their patience. With more of these people making the leap from the online world to the realm of live poker, Botox would solve the problem of a poker face that extensive experience playing in front of a computer monitor cannot. It would also enhance their looks when it comes to big events like the WPT were there are television camera everywhere. To a lot of poker players, it would seem stupid not to do this, right?
