This comprehensive guide will teach you how to spot fish through common poker tells, and explain effective strategies to maximize value against these opponents. Mastering these concepts will help transform you into a sharks feasting on schools of fish.
In poker, a "fish" is a weak, inexperienced player who consistently loses money over time. Learning to identify fish and capitalize on their mistakes is key to boosting your win rate. This comprehensive guide will teach you how to spot fish through common poker tells, and explain effective strategies to maximize value against these opponents. Mastering these concepts will help transform you into a sharks feasting on schools of fish.
A "fish" or "donk" refers to a bad, loose, passive player who lacks understanding of basic poker strategy. These players call too often, play too many hands, rarely bluff or semi-bluff, and are likely to pay you off. In contrast, skilled "sharks" patiently wait to extract maximum value from fish using optimal bet sizing, aggression, and hand reading. Finding and isolating fish is the fastest way to pad your win-rate and bankroll.
Fish can be found at all stakes, since poker mastery develops through experience. But low stakes games tend to have more fish who play purely for entertainment rather than profit. Make a conscious effort to observe opponents' tendencies instead of focusing on your cards. With experience, fish sticks out through several common tells. Here are the most reliable ways to identify weak, passive fish in your games:
Limping into pots instead of raising is essentially only correct in rare cases from later positions in full ring games. Fish often limp early in order to see more flops, rather than fold. Limpers on the button, cutoff, or from mid-position almost always signal weak, passive play. Isolate them and win uncontested pots postflop.
VPIP or Voluntarily Put $$ In Pot measures how often a player enters preflop pots rather than folding. A VPIP above 50% indicates a loose fish playing too many weak hands. Conservative pros generally have VPIP of 15-25%. Target players with the highest VPIPs when blinds permit.
The PFR stat tracks Preflop Raises as a percentage of hands played. Fish rarely raise for value and instead limp or call often. A PFR below 10% paired with high VPIP confirms a passive fish. Bluff them relentlessly and make them pay to see flops.
Fish hate folding and stick around hoping to get lucky. They float every street with weak holdings trying to hit a miracle card. Value bet them relentlessly. Fire multiple barrels on safe boards to force bad calls. Make your strong hands look bluffy to extract max value.
Fish rarely re-raise before the flop because they play too many weak hands and want to see cheap flops. Identify opponents with 3Bet percentages below 5% as targets. Their flat calling ranges will be wide, so isolate them and dominate postflop.
Fish often buy-in short stacked compared to the max in order to minimize risk. They want to wait for premium hands rather than battle postflop. Identify these players and isolate them preflop with wider value raising ranges when effective stacks are shallow.
Fish demonstrate binary and imbalanced play. They are either absurdly passive or maniacally aggressive with no middle ground. Passive fish call too often and rarely bluff. Aggressive fish bluff relentlessly and battle for bloated pots with weak holdings. Their extreme styles make them predictable.
Fish fall in love with big pocket pairs and overpairs. They are unwilling to consider folding even on highly coordinated wet board textures. Let them hang themselves with relentless aggression and make your draws look stronger than they are. Extract max value from one pair holdings.
1. Show down weak holdings when checking river
2. Expose lost hands trying to get feedback
3. Reraise only with premium pocket pairs
4. Play straightforwardly face up
5. Choose odd bet sizing with polarized ranges
6. Tilt and start spewing after losing pots
These behaviors scream fish! They lack understanding of balance, psychology, advanced strategies and tilt control. Ruthlessly target them at every opportunity by playing optimal exploitative poker.
Once you've pinpointed the fish at the table, shift gears to crush them through exploitative adjustments:
Play Tight Pre-Flop Ranges
Only enter pots with premium hands in position against fish who pay you off. Dominate their wide limp/call ranges by raising with hands that flop well. Be willing to fold marginal holdings preflop that whiff instead of barreling stubborn fish.
Isolate Fish with Wider 3Betting
Add more suited connectors, small pocket pairs, and broadways to your 3bet range versus fish who overfold. This allows you to play bloated pots in position against players with capped ranges you can outplay postflop.
Value Bet Thin and Wide
Bet big for value on every street with both your nut type hands and draws. Fish call with extremely weak holdings, so charge them premium prices to see the next card. Don't slow down without compelling reasons.
Use Large Overbets
Bet 2-3x pot when you want calls and have nut type holdings you expect fish will pay off on. This applies on both wet and dry board textures. Go even bigger on river overbets since fish hate folding after calling flop and turn.
Make Hero Calls vs Maniacs
Be willing to make very light calls against aggressive fish betting into you relentlessly. Assume their range is capped and dominated if stacks are shallow. Accept that occasionally you'll pay them off when caught bluff catching, but exploit their spew long term.
Play Straightforward Pre-Flop
Avoid fancy plays like limp/re-raising or 4-bet bluffing fish. Keep things simple pre-flop and your value raising strategy transparent. Save advanced lines for thinking regs instead.
Remain Patient & Focused
Avoid getting antsy or frustrated against fish. Embrace their mistakes and remain calm. Don't attempt advanced strategies like thin value betting or triple barreling without perfect certainty against less sophisticated opponents. Keep it simple.
Finding and exploiting weak fish is the lifeblood of crushing today's soft passive games at all stakes. Avoid trying to outplay thinking regs and hyper-focused sharks. Instead, identify bad players through common poker tells and target them relentlessly. Patience, discipline, and optimal exploitative strategies will allow you to maximize value and quickly improve your bottom line.
So keep a keen eye out for fish in the pond. Their mistakes fuel winning players' profits. Master the art and science of exploiting them, and watch your poker skills and bankroll steadily rise.
