A reflection on Glasses

[The Atog Lord]

This happened with one of my opponents at Saturday's Maine tournament. I don't feel like naming any names here.

When our match had started, within the first few turns, my opponent informed me that he had a very funny joke to tell me after the match.

Whenever I was thinking, either selecting a Fact or Fiction pile or deciding whether to counter a spell, my opponent would loudly proclaim that the joke which he would tell would be hilarious.

He mentioned this joke of his no less than a half-dozen times during our match.

At the end of the match, he told me his clever joke.

Ready?

Here it is:

He could see my hand during the match, reflected in my glasses.

Now, this brings me to my question. Was he just full of it, or can you really see someone's hand in their glasses? And if you can see someone's hand, is there anything I, as a glasses-wearer, can do to prevent this?

Thanks for any input.

[Kowal]

Having played as many games with iLL_dAwG, the sunglasses wearing fiend as I have, I feel I can answer this pretty easily.

When he or I were wearing the shades, the key was to look at your hand turned slightly down.  Anything else is unnecessary.

[theorigamist]

It is possible to see the cards in the reflection of glasses, but the common courtesy thing to do would be to point it out.  Contacts will prevent that.  Also, I've seen some opponent's with glasses who constantly shake their hands a little or shuffle the cards in their hand back and forth.  I assume that was to prevent someone reading their hand.

[Smmenen]

Team Reflection.

Sorry, I couldn't resist

[wuaffiliate]

lol he made a funny

[dandan]

As the barman to take away your glasses or drink from cans so that your opponent can't see your hand.....

[Jacob Orlove]

Now, this brings me to my question. Was he just full of it, or can you really see someone's hand in their glasses? And if you can see someone's hand, is there anything I, as a glasses-wearer, can do to prevent this?

Thanks for any input.

Try playing in front of a mirror, to get a feel for what angles let your opponent see a reflection, and which ones don't.

[Machinus]

If you are nearsighted, you could just take your glasses off. That's usually what I do anyway, since my peripheral vision is completely shot when I wear them, and my depth perception is close to nothing. If I take them off, I find that have a better feel for the game and can sense my opponent's reactions better. If your prescrption is pretty strong though, this may not be a good idea.

It is easiest to see the reflection when your hand is almost parallel to the plane of your glasses. Minimizing your own visibility, whether through angling or shading, will make it much harder for your opponent to see your cards. Unless you are playing a complex combo deck, usually it is not difficult to remember what you have in your hand. You could give your opponent few opportunities to look at what you are holding by only glancing at it when they are busy drawing, or counting their graveyard, or resolving a wish, or whatever.

[Azhrei]

The best skill you can have in Magic is to be able to figure out how your opponent is cheating and then know how to stop them from doing it. Most cheaters rely on their cheat so heavily that they fall apart once it's gone.