Western Strategy - "Are You Shooting an Angle?"

By Justin West

No, the point of this article shall not be how to incorporate angle-shooting into your poker strategy. I could teach you that, but I won't. Instead, I want to discuss an angle-shoot that I've seen employed as a tactic by many, but should be by none. In fact, many players may not even realize they're shooting an angle in the first place.

The rule stating that any player at the table may ask to see any player's hole cards at showdown is one that is very commonly exercised, even called for at times. Nevertheless, the rule is misunderstood by a number of players, regardless of experience, and is frequently abused as a result.

As an example, I'll present a hypothetical situation that is quite demonstrative of a scenario that we're all familiar with. We now join a random hand of poker, already in progress:

...Bob tanks. A full minute passes. Bob knows that he has Chris covered by a considerable margin, but his stack would be severely dented if he called and was wrong. Does Chris have the ace? Finally, Bob says, "I call."

Immediately, Chris flips over A-K, grinning. Bob can only grimace and muck his hand face down, muttering, "Nice hand," which we all know is code for, "Nice suck-out."

"Wait," calls out Steve, a player from the other side of the table who had been watching the hand intently, desperately trying to figure out who had what. "I want to see that hand."

The dealer flips Bob's hand over, knowing that any player has the right to see either hand at showdown. The entire table can see that Bob had held K-K, by far the best hand until that fateful river.

The Question: Is there anything wrong with Steve requesting to see Bob's hand?

The Answer: No, but only if Steve honestly suspected that Bob and Chris were cheating. If Steve just wanted to know what Bob had, and didn't suspect collusion, he was completely in the wrong to ask the dealer to flip the cards. The point of the rule is to protect against collusion, not to provide players with information they would otherwise not have gained.

"A lot of people don't understand the meaning of the rule," said Daniel Negreanu when I recently interviewed him. "I think a lot of internet players who are used to hand histories just want to see cards and may not realize it's disrespectful. But the rule was created to identify collusion or cheating. Basically, if you ask to see somebody's cards, if you're using the rule properly, you're accusing them or being suspicious of them cheating with the other player."

I see many players using this rule to gain information, not to protect against cheating. There was even an article recently published on Poker Pages, written by Jim Woods, discussing this very rule.

"Why should something within the rules be considered taboo?" Jim asks. "The rules are the foundation of the game. In my humble opinion, if you don't want your cards disclosed, you shouldn't stay for the showdown. Along the same lines, you shouldn't get angry at someone who asks to see your cards. The rules entitle him to that information. In fact, I think more highly of people who know how to use the rules to their advantage."

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I can respect that. But in this situation I think Jim may have missed the mark. Yes, it is completely within a player's rights to ask to see another player's hole cards at showdown, even if they weren't involved in the hand. And yes, that player is entitled to that information - but only if they think another player was cheating!

Why, I ask you, would anyone institute a rule that allowed a player uninvolved in the hand to ask to see the hand of a player who was involved? To be nice? Because it's understood that everyone might really want to know? Of course not! Again, the rule is there to prevent cheating, and if you use it for any other purpose you are undermining the integrity of the game.

Jim did say something I totally agree with, however, which is that you should do your best not to go on tilt when someone uses this rule against you. Certainly, bring it to the attention of the Powers That Be wherever you're playing, but don't let it affect your game.

"The first time someone uses the rule on you, the odds are that the dealer will be showing them that you played good cards," Jim notes. "With the others seeing proof of your solid play, you may find them folding to your bets more often, which of course may make it easier for you to bluff once or twice."

So, then, what's to be done about it? What's to keep people from abusing this rule to gain information about your hand? Certainly, we can't abolish the rule, since it does actually serve a very important purpose. I agree with the answer that Daniel Negreanu gave me when I asked him the same question.

"If a player does that too often, he can lose his right to ask to see the hole cards, I think," said Daniel. "For example, if [tournament director] Jack McClelland comes over and there's a player continually asking to see cards, Jack can disallow that person to ask that question anymore."

That same thing can and should happen in any poker game in any establishment, whether it be a tournament or a cash game. (Just don't hold your breath on the "tournament directors" at your local bar league doing jack squat about it. You'll have better luck getting a free shot of Jameson.)

What's the moral of all of this? Why, the golden rule, of course! "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Then again, maybe that's not best. George Bernard Shaw might say something different, given that his opinion of the golden rule wasn't as high as mine.

"Do not do unto others as you would expect they should do unto you," said Shaw. "Their tastes may not be the same."

So, I suppose, we'll change the moral of this little rant to two simple words: "Don't cheat!"

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Justin West played poker since the age of 17, he spent more than a year earning a living on the green felt; a modest living, to be sure, but a living nonetheless. His aim was at one point to win the WSOP main event, thus causing Hell to freeze over. However, given his penchant for sin and his extreme dislike of cold weather, Justin has put that dream to rest.