Poker Sites with Fish
Looking to grow your bankroll? Then fish poker sites need to be on your radar (or should we say sonar)? Why? Because making money in the Hold’em world is all about finding weak players while avoiding strong ones. And playing against bad poker players makes poker online easy.
However, before you can begin skinning those with less skill than you, it’s important to break down exactly what a “fish” is and how you can spot them at ten paces. In this quick guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about fish poker sites and how to profit from the mistakes bad poker players make.
What is a Fish?
To find a fishy poker site, you need to know what a fish, in poker terms, actually is. Far removed from the scaly things that casually swim through the rivers, lakes and seas of this world, poker fish are ones that help feed the poker economy.
Let’s face it. While Hold’em is considered by many to be a sport, when you play online you play to make money. Sure, beating a top card pro is a great ego boost. After all, there’s nothing better than comparably weak players taking down pros (unless you’re on the receiving end of a bad beat). But if you’re playing against average players without big poker site sponsorship, your first goal should be boosting your bankroll. Fish poker sites put weak players front and center, letting your bankroll feed off the blood of bad poker players.
In a nutshell, a fish in the poker world is an unskilled player that often loses their cash, but not every site is necessarily a fish poker sites. The goal of every skilled poker player is to find the easiest poker sites with the most fish. Of course, it’s great to be able to tangle with the best players and take their cash, the main goal for every grinder is to make money and the best way to do this is to find a fish and take their bankroll. That means fishy poker sites have the highest number of loose players, something that definitely benefits you.
How to Deal with a Fish
Taking a bad beat in poker can often send you into a fit of rage and cause you to berate the dumb player who got lucky and took your money. That’s true whether you play at poker sites packed with sharks or the top fish poker sites. However, while this may help you vent some of your frustration, it won’t help your poker profits in the long run.
Bad players at easy poker sites, or fish as they’re known in the poker community, are the reason you sit down at a table. These players are your financial lifeline, the ones who keep your bankroll on an upward trajectory.
There’s an expression in the poker world that sounds obvious but is often forgotten: “Don’t scare the fish”. You should remember this, whether you’re playing at fish poker sites or those that are lacking weak players. By taunting a player at the table and pointing out their mistakes, you are inadvertently making the game harder for yourself because you’re educating them. Calling them out can actually turn a fish poker site into a site that’s no longer known for being a mecca of weak players.
The best way to tackle a loose player at fish poker sites is to encourage them and make them feel as welcome as possible. In some respects this is a cynical ploy to keep them in the game so you can take their money, but in poker it’s the name of the game.
In this scenario your bankroll will quickly decline, as will your desire to play the game.
How to Spot a Fish at US Poker Sites
Play by Numbers: The most effective way to spot weak players at fish poker sites is by looking at their stats. Every American poker site with fishy players contains stats and you can use these to determine where the fish are.
From ‘players per flop’ and ‘VPIP’ (Voluntarily Put In Pot), to the amount of cash being played for and the number of times people are raising, you can find all sorts of information contained within every poker room’s lobby.
Once you’ve taken note of these stats, you can use the information to uncover bad players at American fish poker sites. One of the most important figures to look out for is VPIP. When this number is high (think 40%+) it’s a good indicator that the players in the table are too loose and weak enough for you to profit from.
Limp-Call: Away from the lobby, a good way to spot weak players at a US Hold’em site is by the way they play at the table. Limping into a lot of pots, not raising and calling too often is a great way to find bad players and make a lot of easy money.
Finding the Fishiest US Poker Sites
One of the best ways to find loose poker sites and poker rooms with the most fish is to read reviews. Our Internet cardroom reviews will point you in the right direction and open you up to a world of generous grinders at the top fish poker sites in the US.
Beyond this, you should always dedicate a small portion of your bankroll to testing out a new site. Our top tip for all American online Hold’em players is to spread your money thinly across a number of sites. By doing this you can dip your toes into the waters and see if any fish bite.
Once you’ve defined the easiest poker sites to play on, you can then move more of your bankroll to the site in question and use it to punish the weak players and take your fortunes to new heights.