There are all sorts of different player types in poker. A lot of players are really good people and while there are a few cheats here and there they don’t last long in the game because they get thrown out as soon as they are caught...however there are a few players who will exploit the rules and try to gain an advantage using unethical tricks that technically don’t break the rules. Using these little tricks is commonly referred to as Angle Shooting.
When you’re playing a regular game you can usually pick up on those players who like to Play Angles and so once you know who they are you can be switched on to them and not get sucked in. However, when you’re playing at a new venue (like I’ve just started) you don’t really know the players so it’s important to know the common tricks people use and be able to spot them at the table in real time while the game is in progress.
Last night I had an interesting situation where it was late in the tournament and everyone was pretty Short Stacked. One player was at risk of elimination and myself and another player limped in to try and knock him out. The Big Blind, who already had chips in the middle says Call and pushes another matching stack into the middle. He then pretended he didn’t realize he’d already posted the Big Blind but since his 2nd stack of chips were pushed into the middle they had to stay...so it was really a Disguised Raise.
I made eye contact and asked him flat out “Was that an Angle?” and he played dumb. I saw the warning though and Folded to watch the hand play out. He turned over AQ (a relatively strong hand late tournament) and he won the hand so my fold was smart. I smiled and nodded knowingly at him while another player came to defend his action, but my instincts in this instance were good.
Looking back, it was earlier in that tournament that the same player had made an All In Bet out of turn which was another “accident” and he was told that since he was out of turn and the player he skipped eventually Checked he had to Check too. I suspect that was also an Angle that he played and maybe I’d already subconsciously put a Red Flag on him to be wary of his shenanigans. Regardless, I’ve made a mental note to watch out for him when I play at that venue next time.
Angle Shooting is fairly common in poker and the Angles played by people can be subtle and relatively innocent, or sometimes quite blatant. Once you get to know people you can learn who to watch out for, but when everyone is new to you it’s best to take an attitude of them being guilty before proven innocent. I’m not saying you should call them out and confront them on the first instance like I kind of did because people do make genuine mistakes, but being aware and cautious of some common tricks might save you from losing your stack.