The term fish is commonly used in poker, it refers to a player who consistently makes bad plays such as calling bets and raises with the worst hand. A fish is usually a player who has little understanding of the relative strength of their hand in relation to the size of the bets they are making and calling. Fish usually have a hard time folding if they think there’s any chance they could still win the pot. They will call large bets when they have a draw even though they are not getting anywhere near the correct odds to do so.

Fish are the types of players you want to play against as they can give you the chance to make some easy money. You do however need to understand the best way to play against them in order to maximise your profits, due to the fact they are reluctant to fold their cards, you should avoid trying to bluff them. Instead you need to be patient and wait for strong hands, when you get them you should bet big and let the fish pay you off. Be aware though that because they call a lot on draws that sometimes they will get lucky, hit their hand and win the pot. At this point don’t do what so many players do and get angry, insult them, say “how could you call that?” Etc, you simply run the risk of scaring them off. You want them to play bad and make bad calls against you so you can’t then have a go at them for doing just that, if they didn’t get lucky from time to time they’d soon get bored of poker and stop playing.

Think of yourself as a casino and the fish as your customers, as long as they keep playing they will eventually lose money to you because the odds are in your favour. Having them win now and again keeps them playing and chasing that next one.