Vision going bad from playing too much internet poker

[ineedmoneybad]

Ive been playing internet poker for over 3 years and my vision is going bad. Close up vision is fine but things at a distance are blurring. I went to an eye doctor and he said this was normal with aging and could also be casued by staring at a computer screen for long periods of time. I'm thinking about cutting back online poker because of this. Any one else having this problem?

[ZeeJustin]

Yes, and I'm 18 [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[MicroBob]

yes....i'm glad i'm not the only one.
my eyes are especially sensitive to light and other influences (very difficult to take eye-drops, movie theatres, flash-bulbs, etc etc).
i've been a blinker or a squinter for much of my life.
strangely, i am the only member of my family that does NOT require glasses (although i sense that may change within the next 3-5 years).
it's possible the sensitivity is related to the fact that my eyes are very light-blue (but i thought the DARK colors were supposed to absorb the light....hey, i'm just going by what the doctor said).

anyway, different screens and different brightness levels work differently for me. also, setting up a light behind my head seems to work better for me than in front of me or to the side of the screen. even different wattages of light-bulbs, etc etc seem to make a difference.

have also been known to wear sunglasses playing internet-poker....and in movie theatres sometimes....which isn't nearly as cool as people think i am trying to be. i truly am a guy who's been known to cry at the movies....girls think i'm deeply moved.
i even shed a couple tears at U2's concert-film Rattle-and-Hum...the Black and White was killing me.

i also do better if i'm occasionally glancing away from the screen while playing, even if it's watching the tv across the room between hands.

if i'm not watching tv and am totally focused on the screen (3-tables....and perusing the 2+2 forums between hands) then my eyes really struggle sometimes.

my suggestion is to really experiment around with different ideas with what works best for you.
if you find a set-up that FEELS easier on the eyes, then it probably IS easier on the eyes and may prevent you from going blind before you turn 40.

[goodguy_1]

I have experienced the same thing.When you are constantly focused on up close vision-you -to your computer screen -the muscles in your eyes tighten up..playing too may hours focused just on upclose vision will stress your eyes..I was told this by my optometrist last week when i went in for an eye exam-He advised that every 10-15 minutes you should take your eyes off your screen and look out across a room or out a window for a minute or so probably more...this helps to alleviate the strain supposedly..My eyes only stress if I play more than 12 hours so thats rare..hehe.Realize than from 40-50 years of age all adults start having problems w/reading vision..Also check the edges of your monitor -they can go bad in as little as 2-3 years on even very good monitors..and there is rarely an adjustment u can make other than selling it and buying new ones.

[ZeeJustin]

[ QUOTE ]
my eyes are especially sensitive to light and other influences (very difficult to take eye-drops, movie theatres, flash-bulbs, etc etc).
i've been a blinker or a squinter for much of my life.
strangely, i am the only member of my family that does NOT require glasses (although i sense that may change within the next 3-5 years).
it's possible the sensitivity is related to the fact that my eyes are very light-blue (but i thought the DARK colors were supposed to absorb the light....hey, i'm just going by what the doctor said).

[/ QUOTE ]

All of this is 100% true for me too. Ok, I lied. My eyes are a light blue-green. Seriously though, I have always had to squint outside during daytime just because I'm so sensitive to light. I used to have 20/10 eyesight (twice as good as 20/20) even though everyone in my family wears glasses, but my PC days have changed that. I'll have to try the sunglasses out.

[Rugbyrat]

Hi all. This is my first post, but is an issue near and dear to me. I suffered a detached retina (not related to computers or poker) a little over 15 months ago. Because I ignored the symptoms for a few weeks before seeing my eye doctor, I never recovered my full vision after the surgery.

Since I'm only 30, the reduced vision has affected most aspects of my life. I recently left my career because I'm no longer competitive with my reading problems. I often have to ask the dealer to read the board cards to me, because I've bet into non-existant board pairs that I've read incorrectly.

This is not a sob story - I don't care to see sympathy posts. Learn from my mistake. The moral of the story is this: take care of your eyesight. You won't understand what you are missing until its too late. Neither poker, computers, or most other things, are more valuable than your vision.

Keith

[JohnShaft]

Neither poker, computers, or most other things, are more valuable than your vision.
Very true Keith. I almost lost sight (in one eye) at the age of 10 so I can fully appreciate what so many of us take for granted.

Can I ask, if it's not too personal, how it happened?

[JohnShaft]

OK I guess I'm another one in this club. I wasn't aware sensitivity to light had anything to do with eye colour, and thought I sometimes suffered with it just by random chance. As I have green eyes I guess not.

I began using computers almost 20 years ago, as a just-turned teenager, with the advent of home computers (Spectrum onwards). At that time I had perfect vision. Within a couple of years my vision had inexplicably detiorated. I totally put this down to computer screen usage.
As such I think this is a hazard of the profession, for all us online poker players.

My sight, touch wood, hasn't seemed to detiorate for many, many years though (despite *increased* usage of computer screens). So maybe it's one of those things were it detiorates to a point if you have perfect vision, but then often not further.

I think this is something we will all just have to accept.
I see a future where everyone walks around like Mr Magoo.
"Is that you Waldo?"

[Rugbyrat]

I am chronically near-sighted. A near-sighted person's eyes continue to expand (think of a balloon). Occasionally, like the balloon, the wall of the eye becomes too thin ("lattice degeneration"), causing the fluid in the eye to leak out and apply pressure on the retina, causing the detachment.

Either that, or I took one too many shots to the head playing rugby. My doctor thinks it's the former.

Keith

[ramjam]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">En réponse à:</font><hr />
I almost lost sight (in one eye) at the age of 10 so I can fully appreciate what so many of us take for granted.

[/ QUOTE ]

I did lose an eye when I was seven. It makes surprisingly little difference once one gets used to it. My 3D perception is supposedly impaired but it was good enough to play cricket for my school and college. And I do tend to bump the blind side of my head into things fairly frequently but apart from that no problems.