Playing
Against Schools of Fish
Fishy poker players are the
backbone of the poker economy. Without the fish,
there would be no money to be made in poker. The
small stakes players take from the fish, the
medium stake players take from the small stake
players and the high stakes players take from
everyone else. Without the fish, there would be
no supply of fresh money and as a result,
everyone on the food chain would starve.
With that out of the way, I
will admit that playing against schools of fish
can be an exercise in patience. They show up
with stupid hands on the river, they make
minimum bets for no apparent reason and they say
things that make you cringe on the inside. Yep,
those are fish all right. But don’t hold it
against them. They are there for a different
reason than you. They just want to gamble it up
and have a little fun. If it’s a live casino,
they don’t mind the free drinks as well.
It seems like intermediate
players always have the biggest problem with
fish. These are the guys who know a little poker
strategy but are still break-even or slightly
loosing players. These are the guys who berate
the fish and say that the fish don’t play “real
poker.” Whatever you do, don’t listen to those
idiots. There’s no such thing as “real poker.”
Nobody has a right to tell anyone else how poker
should be played.
As frustrating as it can be
playing against schools of fish, it is extremely
profitable. It might seem impossible when they
all chase all their draws all the time but
that’s OK. There are ways to capitalize on the
mistakes fish make on a regular basis. As long
as you keep a cool head, there is a lot of money
to be made by playing against fish.
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The Schooling Effect
The schooling effect is
used to describe what happens when several fish
chase draws in the same hand. Each one of them
is making a mistake by chasing that draw but
when everyone
calls, they all get good odds to chase - because
there’s so much money in the pot. If you bet to
protect a made hand, the schooling effect is
responsible for giving those players the right
odds when they all call.
It sounds terrible not being
able to protect your made hands, but it’s great.
Any time you sit at a table where there is a
schooling effect, it means you are playing at a
great table. Even though you can’t knock
everyone out of the pot, you can still make a
lot of money with your strong hands. Sure,
they’ll get sucked out on all the time but when
you win, you win big. All it requires is a
little patience.
Any time you catch a
strong hand in a fishy game, bet with it from
the very beginning. Don’t try to get fancy and
slowplay your hand. Just bet and keep on betting
for as long as you think your hand is the best
one at the table. Even if 4 other players call,
you’re still getting a great return on your
money. You are only donating 20% of the money in
the pot but your chances of winning are probably
much higher than 20%.
Play an Honest Game
The key to winning against
schools of fish is to play a tight,
straightforward game. You don’t need to bluff or
raise weak hands in late position to confuse
your opponents. They are already confused by all
the pretty cards and jingling chips. The only
things you need to do are wait for strong hands
and get money in the pot with those hands. It’s
simple and effective.
There’s no point in playing
anything other than straightforward because the
fish don’t notice your habits and adjust
accordingly. They simply play their own game and
hope to get good cards. When you make tricky
plays against good opponents, you take a short
term loss in expected value in the hopes of
provoking a mistake that provides a greater
return later. Against the fish, that’s all
completely unnecessary. A tight, straightforward
game is the most efficient method to extract
money from schools of fish.
Keep Your Cool
Yes, it’s frustrating to play
against fish but you still need to keep your
cool at the table. If you let the fish affect
your play, you will only reward them with your
own mistakes. Fish are notorious for placing
horrible bad beats but that’s the nature of the
game. Don’t let it affect your play. Don’t be
afraid to take a break if you feel that familiar
flush creeping up your collar.
No matter what happens, do not
EVER berate the fish. Don’t tell them how stupid
they are or how much you’re going to take from
them later. That serves absolutely no purpose
except to educate and inform them. It also makes
you look like a jerk. It’s tempting to call the
fish names but don’t do it. You want to reward
them for making bad plays, not berate them. By
yelling at them, all you do is convince them to
tighten up or leave the table. In both cases,
that means less money for you.
