What are fish in poker

Online poker has become more and more popular lately and has caught the attention of many users. If we’re talking about a regular in poker, then he or she is earning, while other players have come just for the positive vibe. As for the fish in poker, it’s an opponent for whom winning is not important at all; the main point is having fun and experiencing the emotions of the game. 

Terminology

1. A weak player, who has no experience yet.
2. A gambler who looks for fun and excitement.

In the first situation, constant losing is the result of poor training. In the second situation, a non-serious approach plays a role.

But it is worth sorting out the second group of people who lose most often in any tournament or game.

Types

The main sign of a fish is that he draws a large number of initial hands. That is, fish combinations will always be worse than opponents’ hands, even those with a narrower range.

But in reality, there is no way to spot such a player without specialized software.

Loose and passive opponents

We do not mean loose, i.e. free or even uninhibited.  Often such a user will just call everything, even if he is not the highest pair.

How to proceed?

1. Raise the flop with a set or even two pairs. A bet with a high pair, maybe even just a high card, depending on how it’s played, also deserves attention.
2. Betting on the river or turn.
3. Resetting aggressive actions.

Loose-aggressive

This is a person who enjoys a very frequent and, in most cases, simply unreasonable bluffs. And often, a person with no experience simply overestimates his abilities and plays to the end with a weak hand.

When playing against such an opponent, you should simply wait for a strong hand. Even dropping a big pair with a weak kicker on the flop is a reasonable decision, as there will be several good opportunities to pick up the stack in as many as 20 hands.

Statistically, there are several times as many of these players today.

Real maniacs

These are the players who always go forward and just never pass. A Raise can be had in any case.  And such players can be recognised by their high WtSD.

And in order to win, you need to go to the table with a 50BB stack and move all-in on the preflop with 88+ and AJ+. On the flop with a high pair or with the option to strengthen to a straight or flush combination, this approach will pay off.

How do you recognise such an opponent?

In some cases the opponent has no stats at all, or the game is played in a room that prohibits the use of third-party software.  And there are a few ways you can spot a fish.

Betting Size

Inappropriate behavior is the first parameter worthy of attention:

1. An overflop raise of 2B in an early or even middle position.
2. Any overflop or raise over 5B.
3. When the stack is over 20B, the player bets everything.

Stack Size

Regulars prefer tables where the stack size is 40, 50 and 100B. And if the stack is small not round-robin, it is very likely to indicate that this is a recreational player.

Decisions

Regulars for the most part behave predictably, and take a long time to think before taking any action. Sure, it could be a rookie, but more often it is a recreational player who is distracted by other games.

There is no automatic extraction

After losing a portion of the stack, a fish never automatically adds chips and may be present at the table with 15 or 20 BB.

These are the most common methods of identifying such a player, and knowing how to act in one case or another can make good money on him.