I don't think you can base the question of whether or not this was an angle on the dude's holding.

If he had the nuts, then he's trying to enforce the rule. Dickish, maybe, but I wouldn't call that an angle.

I'm not a fan of the room, but on the weekends they usually have 5 to 6 tables of 1/2 and 2/5 going. With drunk tourists.

But he was bluffing. He was trying to get me to fold a 2 pair-like hand because he knew he couldn't beat it. Isn't that the definition of an angle?

No, that's the definition of a bluff.

I do see what you're saying. He was trying to take advantage of the letter of a rule and not the spirit to gain an unfair advantage. But as far as angles go, this is about as tame as it gets.

Keep in mind that all he asked was, "Is that a call?" which is a perfectly legitimate question to ask.

I know it's legitimate. But it's like saying to the dealer if I flash a card to get a read, "Isn't that hand dead?" sort of like Tom Dwan does to Laak, which someone posted above.

It's harmless, and if I get fooled by it, bully for that person.

But it's still an angle.

If you do this would they consider it a fold?

Keep a chip or a hand on them.


--klez

It's funny, because I NEVER touch the cards or chips with my left hand - all action is done with my right. I do this so I can scratch my face, rub my eyes or whatever with my left hand and not worry about icky casino chip cooties.

So my right hand is almost always behind my cards when I'm in a hand. It's only when I lean forward some to make a bet that they go beyond the cards. Normally.

Obviously, I do it when I contemplating a call or bet, too, sometimes, though. Or else I wouldn't have been warned.

showing cards is actually legal in some rooms if you are last to act heads up... seen it many times, and used it myself at some points to get a read.

I wouldn't go so far at calling it an angle. It's not like he had the nuts and was trying to get the dealer to make you put the chips in the pot; that I'd be upset about.

But in this case it seemed like he knew the dealer wasn't going to enforce the policy, because it was a gray zone, and so he was just using it as a last-ditch effort to level you out of calling. Can't blame him for trying, right?

But it seemed like you weren't really thinking about that anyway, and were just maybe nervous that you were violating the rule and so decided to go with what you were planning to do anyway (call) instead of maybe getting some potential grief. I've been in a couple similar spots where someone tried to outlevel me with some ruling-related thing but instead just made me uncomfortable enough to where I just went down the path of least resistance, which was the opposite of what that person wanted me to do.