"Shooting an angle" is the term used when a con artist attempts a scam. Some are premeditated, whereas some are spontaneously opportunistic.
Obviously, unethical angles include marking a card and using secret signals with team members. That stuff is criminal. There's a second category that I like to call misdemeanors. They include not alerting an opponent when he accidentally puts in too much money or sloppily exposes his holecards. I'd even add to that slow-rolling with the intention of putting someone on tilt. Anyone who does anything close to something in those two categories is begging for bad karma.
But then there's a third category that I like to call "honest angles." These are the opportunities to make more money in the long run that are beyond the standard four actions (fold, call, bet, raise). Sweethearts never shoot even honest angles. Then again, sweethearts are rarely very good poker players.
1. If a player concedes to you, never ask to see his "losing" hand. In fact, demand that you not see it. Hush-up others who might be about to ask to see those cards. Your opponent might have misread his hand. He might have been going for a flush and "accidentally" made a backdoor straight. If you're a real poker player, you play to win money. If he's giving you the pot, you've accomplished your goal. If you ask to see his hand, you might just lose that pot, because in most cardrooms, if an active player at the river asks to see the hand, it is "live" and still eligible to win the pot if it is in fact the best hand.
Let me give you an example that actually happened to me at The Bicycle Casino a little while ago. It's "the bad beat that didn't happen".
We were both all in, yet I won the hand on the river with the worst hand.
You read that correctly. It was the beginning of a $200 ($3-$5) no-limit hold'em table and player limped in from under the gun. I was on his immediate left with the A
J
. I wanted to isolate him, so I raised to $20. Only he called. The flop came Q
10
8
. He checked. I had a double belly buster with an overcard and a backdoor-flush draw. I bet $25. He called. The turn was the 2
. He checked. I bet $40 and he immediately reraised to $155. So, the pot was $288 it was $115 to me. If I was the underdog, I had at least eight outs and maybe 11. But I'd played with this guy before, and I thought he was bluffing. So, I called. He looked upset. The river was the 3
, and he said, "I missed."
I said "Me too, ace high," and flipped my cards faceup.
Then he said the two words you love to hear when you miss your own draw: "Take it." He stared dejectedly at his cards and the player peering over his shoulder started freaking out a little bit.
My opponent mucked his cards, and as soon as they hit the muck, the other player said "Why did you do that? You had a pair of threes!"
He defiantly replied, "There was only a deuce out there." But he was wrong.
To recap, this guy called a raise with J-3, drew to only an inside straight that would enable him only to tie, had three outs to beat me, got the miracle card, and still lost. Now, if I had asked to see his hand, it would have been live and he would have won the pot. The lesson? Unless you're the only one scooping the pot with the stone-cold nuts, never ask to see an opponent's losing hand.
(Side note: Let me take this opportunity to thank the professionalism and wisdom of the player who was freaking out not to mention anything until my opponent mucked his hand. The rule is "one player to a hand," and if you muck when you should have won, that's your problem. If a wide receiver wandered out of bounds with the football at the 1-yard line, you wouldn't think he deserved a touchdown. Reading your hand and knowing the rules is part of the game. Nevertheless, that other player earned good poker karma points from me.)
But maybe you're really curious and you paid to see his hand. Well, in that case … still don't do it. There's very little upside. And there's a lot of downside, even if you still drag the pot. Asking to see a losing hand might make a bad player feel uncomfortable - and this leads to the second honest angle.
2. Encourage the bad player and shut down his enemies. Some people play poker to win, and others play purely to have fun. There are potentially good players in both groups. Some donators play terribly when they're having the time of their lives, but tighten up (or even worse - leave) when they aren't having fun. Consequently, if you spot a bad player, be nice to him. Mention that you've seen his play work before. Compliment his own perceived strength. ("Wow, you're aggressive and intimidating. Look out everybody.") Commiserate on his beats. ("I can't believe that guy called you with just straight-flush draw," and so on.)
If you see another player berating the bad player, I suggest you break up the fight. Say, "Hey, we're all just gambling and trying to have a good time here." If the bad player's enemies are making him uncomfortable, do whatever you can to make him want to stay and play. I propose a code phrase to be used by savvy pros when they want to remind each other of the wisdom that if the bad players didn't play badly, the game couldn't be beat. My suggested code phrase is: "Let the good gentleman play his favorite game." Remember, if you hear that code phrase, it means that you should chill out and let the bad player play poorly.
3. Don't teach good strategy at the table. When you're at home with your friends, go ahead and discuss good strategy - but not at the table. If someone is playing poorly, he is the donator. Teaching him dries up the profit. If you want a tougher game, move up in limits.
Don't burn the crops just because you're not hungry.
Let's say you're an otherwise cool player who occasionally goes on tilt (like me). Maybe there's a terrible player who goes all in on the turn, betting five times the pot, with nothing but a pocket underpair, even though the board has a three-flush and a three-straight. You call with top two pair and the nut-flush draw, and he hits his one-outer. Do not teach him anything. Even if he says he "had a feeling," do not alert him to his terrible play. If he's smart, he'll read
Card Player and buy a few good books on poker. If not, let him learn the hard way.
More important than knowing most everything is knowing when you don't. I don't know everything. Tell me when I'm wrong.
Dan Abrams produced the documentary on the World Series of Poker in 2000 for the Discovery Channel, and was the post producer of the World Poker Tour in its first season. He may be contacted at: [email protected].
