Angle Shooters in Online Casinos: How to Avoid Them

If you’ve ever played a game such as Texas Hold’Em Poker, you’ll know about the types of antics you might see at a casino table. Or even if you’ve played blackjack and sat next to someone who is a little obsessive-compulsive. There’s a name for these types of players: angle shooters. Here’s what to expect when you see them and how to handle their gamesmanship.

Angle shooting is basically whenever anyone tries to use a technique to distract you, read you, or glean something about strategy from you. It isn’t illegal or wrong to do in terms of the black and white rules, but it is viewed as somewhat unethical.

Here are a few examples, which will help you understand:

Fake-folding

You have to really keep an eye on players to make sure they’re folding. Fake-folding can work in a way because if a player goes to fold, you might be inpatient and reveal something before they actually do it. If you’re bluffing, you might release a smirk or sigh of relief. Or if you’re holding, you might flop your cards in a cocky way before they’ve declared.

Suggestive hand movements

If you play poker long enough, you know that certain movements tend to lead to an action. For example, reaching for your chips or sliding your cards towards the dealer. Similar to fake-folding, you have to make sure the player has 100%, unequivocally raised (or whatever else you were assuming) because if not, you could get yourself into trouble by assuming.

Verbal misdirection

Just as a player can fake you out with moves, they can do so with their oral statements too. You might think they said “raise” or implied something like that, but you need to be 100% certain.

Hiding chips

This is another classic, as some opponents want to mislead you into thinking they have more or less chips. That can change how you think about their strategy.

Is angle shooting wrong?

As you can see from the above examples, there’s a pattern here: players are essentially trying to throw you off your game. Think of it as if you were playing sports. If things were getting competitive and there were high stakes or lots of money on the line, competitors would do whatever it takes.

In basketball, we’ve seen a lot of trash talking going on in the paint, in football we’ve seen whatever grabbing players can get away with, and in the boxing ring; fighters will try to get in an extra elbow here or there – whether it’s legal or not.

In the “sport” of poker, angle shooting is basically along those same lines. You’re going to have players who feel like it’s not part of the game and should be outlawed, and then you’ll have players who enjoy playing in the grey areas.

Here’s the bottom line; we can debate whether it’s right or wrong until we’re blue in the face, but the reality is you have to deal with it. Unless a casino has specific rules that outlaw these types of tactics (and there are few that we’ve encountered), then you’ll just have to do your best to combat them.

It’s actually much easier than you think. Just follow these two strategies and you’ll be able to avoid a lot of headaches.

1. Be sure

People are going to try to get you off your game by faking a hand gesture or a fold, but the easiest way for you to not get sucked in is to be sure of what you’re doing. Instead of rushing, take an extra second to be certain.

In some cases, that might mean checking in with the dealer and confirming “did they fold or not?”. Usually, people who are fooled by this strategy are those who are playing loose and careless.

2. Play online

One of the best aspects of playing online is that a lot of this tomfoolery is naturally cut out of the game. Could someone say something in the chat to try and throw you off? Maybe. People who play in person are way more exposed to fake gestures and various antics.

When it’s online and everyone is behind a screen, a lot of this stuff becomes a non-factor. That’s why we recommend to play poker online.

Everyone knows that there are all sorts of characters in a casino. Whether it’s at the buffet line or at the poker table, there’s probably someone trying to get an edge on you. At the end of the day, as long as you expect it and are prepared for it, you won’t be phased by it. If you play online, you probably won’t have to spend much time worrying about tricks like this.