What is Angle Shooting?

What is Angle Shooting?

Using underhand, unfair methods, trickery, speech play, etc to exploit other players or gain information. It is not exactly illegal but it is unethical and ungentleman-like and very much frowned upon and even despised. Yet many people do it.

In the latest WSOP Main Event, the player with the big beard Keating tried to get his opponent to call by saying "good call" while he was in the tank then said that "oh I thought you said call". By doing this he implies that he was bluffing and any call would beat him when in actual fact he had a monster. Check out the video here.

(credit to PokerXpress.net and the WSOP)

A while ago a friend of mine was all in on the river. While the other guy was tanking he said "straight" and then quickly went "opps, you haven't called yet". The other guy folds and he flips over a bluff. I didn't like that move at all. Poker may be mind games and trying to outplay the other guy but it is called bluffing not lying. Lying straight in someone's face is bad enough, he had to show that he was indeed angle shooting!

Here's another example Ivan Freitez (one of the most hated guys in poker) says raise but just put in calling chips and pretends that he made a mistake. It looks like he is forced to raise but in actual fact he has a monster hand and wanted to get extra value by acting this way.

(credit to Pokerstars and EPT)

There's winning and there's winning with integrity. Sports athletes resort to illegal drugs, politicians resort to dirty tactics, dictators resort to killing innocent people and poker players resort to cheating or angle shooting. You might still win in the end, but you lose your integrity, credibility and respect.

What is Poker Leveling?

Let’s simplify what Leveling is. Let’s say you are playing Rock Paper Scissors with your brother. First round both of you showed a Rock. It’s a tie.

1. After years of playing with him, you know that he rarely goes Rock - Rock twice back to back. So you are guessing he will be doing Paper or Scissors.
   
1. If he does Scissors, you need to do Rock
2. If he does Paper, you need to do Scissors
3. But if you do Rock and he does Paper you will lose
4. If you do Scissors and he does Scissors it’s a tie.
5. Since he rarely does Rock after Rock then Scissors has the best chance to win.
   
2. Your brother really wants to win, he knows that you know you know he rarely does the same sign back to back. So he knows you will go Paper or Scissors. Based on the logic above, he thinks you will go for Scissors.
   
1. Since you most likely you will go for Scissors then he will stick with Rock
   
3. But you see a smirk on your brother’s face. It seems like he is up to something cheeky. You know he he knows you know he rarely does the same sign back to back, so he might be trapping you by repeating the Rock to catch your Scissors.
   
1. So you decide to go for Paper

Of course a Rock Paper Scissor game rarely has any huge significance compared to a poker game where money is wagered. Also there is not enough time to level your opponent out on RPS but on poker where you have a few minutes to think, you can out-think and out-wit your opponent.

Run bad continues......

I have been on a sick downswing for about 3 weeks now. Let me share some recent lowlights.

1. On the button I call with 55. Flop K95 two clubs. BB leads out. Mid post flats. I raise small. BB reraises, folded to me, I jam, he calls with K9. Mid post folded a K, another guy said he folded a 9. River K. 2 outs for a HKD 20k pot.

2. Again on the button I have Aces. 20/40 I had a Mississippi straddle going. 3 callers, UTG makes it 400, mid post shoved for 1400, I reraised it to 3k everyone folds. I flip over my AA, mid post guy said he's drawing dead with AK. Flop two spades, turn river spades.

3. A2 suited (hmmm, again on the button). Raised pre, 3 callers. Flop A39 rainbow. Everyone checked. Turn is a 2. Sb leads out 200, I raised it to 700. He tank flats. River black 8. He checks, I shoved for 1600 for value. He tank calls with A3. I guess I was behind, but how good can I run by binking the 2 on the turn?!?

4. AJ of hearts, AQ of hearts (another pattern?) both hands hit top two pairs, lost to 2 straights.

When I hit my cards I couldn't get paid off because of scare cards, or just generally no action.

1. AA on mid position, raised 2.5x, everyone folded.

2. KK on button (hmmm another button hand), aggro guy raises in the cut off, I limp, BB limps. Flop K75 two clubs. He bets, I flat. Turn 3 of clubs. Flush got there. He checks I bet. He calls. River another 3. He checks, I bet he folded a K. Clubs scared him.

3. T9 of clubs on the BB. Called preflop aggro raise. Flop 762 two clubs. Straight and flush draw. He cbets I call, another caller. Turn 8 of diamonds. Hit nuts, two diamonds two clubs. I thought to myself I can get paid big if a bit fat brick hits on the river. He bets, I call, last guy calls. River T of spades. Checked to me, I bet, both folds.

Starting to get sick of poker. Need a break I guess. Anyone got any other advice to halt my downswing?

Self Review : What do I need to Improve on

Recently I had a string of bad results. On PLO, I had top set against a guy who thought he had a wrap. But in actual fact he had only 3 outs. USD 1000 pot, he hit it of course. I had quads over quads, and some sick beats. But overall I think I have been playing well, handling the tilt well enough, and still remain reasonably positive.

I was talking strategy with another player who is kind of just embarking on his poker learning and one thing I suggested to him was to make a list of things he thinks he needs to work on. That got me to thinking of what I need to work on myself. Recently I have been speaking to Alec Torelli about a partnership opportunity and I went through his stuff and it taught me a lot. You can check out his website at www.alectorelli.com

That's me Skyping with Alec. Sorry I am still a bit shy to show my face yet. 

I did the free survey on his site and learned a bit more about my style and what needs to change for me to improve

1. Tighten up my range (it seems I am a bit too loose preflop)
2. Improve my mental game (let it go)
3. Improve my observation (I used to observe every hand and opponent, I have grown complacent and started to switch off at times)
4. Be more consistent (I need a default position for everything and stick to it with discipline)
5. Improve my physical stamina (yes this is a hard one)
6. Watch my session lengths (another problem)
7. Take breaks in during a session
8. Review my hands after a session
9. Manage my money better

Let's see if after a month I have improved or not.