How to spot angle shooting by other players
In this article:
- What is angle shooting?
- What are some types of angle shooting?
- How to avoid being exploited by angle shooters?
- What are some types of angle shooting?
- How to avoid being exploited by angle shooters?
What is angle shooting?
Angle shooting is a practice of exploiting the grey areas in the rules of poker well beyond just pushing the rules to their limits. Angle shooting is borderline cheating and at the minimum a very dishonest way to play poker. Sometimes players occasionally do this stuff by mistake, but anyone pulling this kind of stuff on a regular basis should no longer be invited to your poker games, or if you're playing at a card room, should be reported to the pit boss. While they're not actually breaking any rules, they are being scumbags and should be treated as such. I have to say, it reminds me of an old song by FRENZAL RHOMB.
What are some types of angle shooting?
There are more ways for a player to exploit the rules of poker in a live game rather than an online poker game because there are more ambiguous moves they can make which can fool you into thinking they've done something different. Here are some examples of the different ways an angle shooter can exploit the rules and trick you in a live card game.
The fake call
This one is the least subtle and most overtly dishonest methods of angle shooting and isn't something that can be done by mistake. This can happen on the river when you lead out with a bet and your opponent puts an amount of chips into the pot that is slightly less than your bet and sits back as if they've just made a call. Their goal here is to trick you into thinking that they've made a call so that they can see your cards. If you've got them beat, they will announce that they didn't actually make a call and take their incomplete call back out of the pot. If they've got the winning hand they'll scoop the pot before anyone else notices.
The fake hand
This happens on the river when a player acts out of turn by announcing a great hand. They get you to fold your hand thinking that you're already beat and then show a different hand than the one they announced, which is weaker than the hand you folded. Don't ever fall for this and always make your opponent show their hand before you fold to make sure they're not trying to pull one over on you. You should also remember that acting out of turn is actually against the rules and players who do this can be punished, so if someone tries to pull this on you, make sure they are punished for it.
Ambiguous action
This happens when someone makes a move that can be interpreted as a check but is not complete, such as a wave of the hand. They can do this to see what everyone else has been planning to do and after everyone else checks behind they may announce that they want to raise.
The fake call
This one is the least subtle and most overtly dishonest methods of angle shooting and isn't something that can be done by mistake. This can happen on the river when you lead out with a bet and your opponent puts an amount of chips into the pot that is slightly less than your bet and sits back as if they've just made a call. Their goal here is to trick you into thinking that they've made a call so that they can see your cards. If you've got them beat, they will announce that they didn't actually make a call and take their incomplete call back out of the pot. If they've got the winning hand they'll scoop the pot before anyone else notices.
The fake hand
This happens on the river when a player acts out of turn by announcing a great hand. They get you to fold your hand thinking that you're already beat and then show a different hand than the one they announced, which is weaker than the hand you folded. Don't ever fall for this and always make your opponent show their hand before you fold to make sure they're not trying to pull one over on you. You should also remember that acting out of turn is actually against the rules and players who do this can be punished, so if someone tries to pull this on you, make sure they are punished for it.
Ambiguous action
This happens when someone makes a move that can be interpreted as a check but is not complete, such as a wave of the hand. They can do this to see what everyone else has been planning to do and after everyone else checks behind they may announce that they want to raise.
How to avoid being exploited by angle shooters.
Most of the techniques used by angle shooters rely on you and other players not playing close enough attention or not strictly enforcing the rules. To avoid falling for any of these tricks, always make sure that a player has made a complete action and ask for them to verbally announce the move they are making. If a player waves his hand as if he's checking, ask if it was a check before you make your move. If a player moves chips into the pot without saying that it's a call, ask and make sure they verbally confirm that it is a call. And, lastly always make sure you lay down both of your cards face up in front of you in any showdown to make sure you haven't been fooled by the other player and muck the best hand.
