play the angles

To play the angles is to exploit every available advantage in a situation, often through clever maneuvering rather than straightforward effort.

The phrase evokes billiards or pool, where success depends on calculating how balls will bounce off cushions.

Someone who plays the angles looks for indirect paths to benefit: He's always playing the angles, figuring out who to know and what favors to trade.

The connotation leans toward shrewdness that may border on manipulation.