I was playing in a $30-$60 game.  A very personable young man was a couple of seats to my right.  He, and a couple of other people, were keeping the table light, which I appreciate and join in on.   Poker is a game, and it helps to have fun.

I had gone so long after sitting down without playing any hands at all that people were starting to comment.  I got nothing to play, but I joked about it with them.  then I got a hand to play:  Ah Qd under the gun.  Not great, but playable.  I open-raised, and the nice guy on the button called.

Flop was A-K-9 with two diamonds.  I bet and he called.  The turn was a king, which did not thrill me, but as I was getting ready to be, the opponent ostentatiously checked on the button.  This had no effect on me, as i was always planning to bet, so his “check” did not influence me.  I bet, and he raised.

Can I have the best hand?  If he had not shot the checking out of turn angle,  might conjure up some fancy hands for him, but his desperation to have me bet convinced me I was drawing very thin.  i mucked.

Yes, I know I could be the victim of some deep psychological triple cross, but the overwhelming chance was the he hit a king and was afraid I would check and fold, so he did the check thing.

When I started playing hold’em in the Dark Ages, I played In Garden City, a cardroom in San Jose, CA which had a house rule, “Checking out of turn bars aggressive action.”  This means if you check out of turn and everyone checks to you, you must check, and if you check out of turn and someone bets into you, you can fold or call but you cannot raise.  I always liked the rule, but soon found out is not very common in other cardrooms.  Oh, well.

I do not mind losing, but I really despise angle-shooters.  Seeking “revenge” by trying to target a specific player is a foolish game, and I did not do this.  I was delighted however to see that karma took over and this fellow lost and lost after that, becoming increasingly annoyed.  Eventually he lost his last all-in (my K-Q suited beating is A-9), and he stomped away. 

This is not a cautionary tale, unfortunately.  He was just as likely to win as lose.  But there really is no place in out game for angle-shooters.  Just play.  If you are good enough, you will win anyway.