Zhou Shocks EPT Barcelona Audience With Blatant Angleshoot

A controversial angleshooting incident overshadowed play at the PokerStars EPT Barcelona Main Event, Chinese pro Quan Zhou at the centre of the storm…

Zhou’s fake-fold antics at the feature table had commentators Joe Stapleton and Benjamin Spragg united in disbelief, and Twitter poker fans were shocked that nothing was done to penalise the blatant angle attempt.

Angleshooting, for those who don’t recognise the term, is when a poker player uses unethical moves to influence the opponent’s action. Though not strictly against the rules, angleshooting is generally frowned upon by most decent-minded players.

In Zhou’s play yesterday, it’s not against the rules to fake a fold if he keeps his hands on the cards - unlike forward motion with chips, for example, which generally constitutes binding action.

Zhou claimed that he was merely moving his cards across his chipstack. However, he certainly wasn’t winning any fans over with his actions, a huge majority in a Twitter poll agreeing that it was a clear angle…

…with the eyes the real giveaway as to what he was trying to do…

A quick selection of comments on the viral video give a flavour of how most poker players and fans felt about it:

• Dude should be banned from the tournament for this.
• How is floor not called by the dealer here? Clearly an angle. Not really much to debate.
• How on earth was his hand still live after that???

Angleshooting in poker has a long list of variations and well-known culprits, the most recent big case involving Alec Torelli.

During a televised cash game on Poker Night in America, Torelli deliberately hid his big denomination chips at the back of his stack, his opponent Daniel Wolf shocked when he shoved all-in and found Torelli with much more money behind him than expected.

The dispute went viral after Doug Polk called Torelli out on his angleshoot, Torelli refuting the claims in a video of his own, but the evidence was pretty damning once an amateur poker super-sleuth got in on the act…