If you’re going to make money at poker, you’ll have to maximize your returns against your weakest opponents – aka the “fish.”
Because while it’s true that in this day and age you have to be able to hold your own against the regulars too, unless you’re playing far below your limits, that’s not going to be where your biggest edge will be. Instead, the majority of your equity will come from dominating the fish at your tables.
With that in mind, here are three tips specifically designed to help you extract maximum value from your aquatic tablemates.
Continuation-Bet More
Admittedly, this first tip runs counter to most of the cbetting advice over the past few years, which says you should be continuation-betting less frequently to “protect your range” (aka avoid overbluffing and keep some strong hands in your checking range). And while it’s true that those things matter and that you can’t profitably be blasting away at every pot like you could a decade or two ago, I am constantly seeing players misapplying this information, or applying it unnecessarily, when playing against fish.
Take the example of a KKQ flop as the in-position raiser holding 22. Since fish often play a fit-or-fold strategy and underbluff in nearly every postflop scenario, protecting your range does not, and should not, be the primary concern. Instead, by betting our underpair on this board, we accomplish something much more important: denying our opponent equity.
Against a weak opponent who will not be calling or raising at nearly the right frequencies, the value of getting them to fold the 28% equity they still have with a hand as weak as 78o (not to mention the monstrous 76% equity they have with a hand like 44) is a much bigger win then some theoretical protecting of our range. So regardless whether it’s a KKQ board, or a standard 2025 check-back board like 567, ignore the range-protection hype and just cbet your hand when playing against a fish.
Probe-Bet More
Related to the last tip, since fish generally have very capped ranges when they check back the flop or turn, it’s critical to take advantage of this imbalance by leading the turn and/or river following our opponent’s check on the previous street (aka a probe). While we may run into a slow-played monster every now and again, we are far more likely to be up against weak or marginal holdings and will often be able to steal the pot with a single or double barrel “probe” bluff. Of course, we ideally want our hand to have some equity when called—meaning we’d much rather probe a gutshot than two undercards—but against the right opponent you can often get away with probing indiscriminately.
Utilize Exploitable Betting Patterns
Sure, against thinking players you’ll generally want to keep your bet-sizing consistent to avoid giving off tells, but this strategy is often completely unnecessary (and likely entirely suboptimal) against weak amateurs. Since these opponents are highly unlikely to have the awareness and skills necessary to catalogue and retrieve this type of information the next time they need it, you can play much more exploitably against them by, for example, sizing down your weakest continuation bets. As you likely know, the smaller you make the bet, the less frequently it needs to work to be profitable. So forget all the advice you’ve heard about staying eternally “balanced” in every spot and size your bets with your specific opponent in mind.
If you do these three things—deny your opponents free equity, probe like a maniac until given a reason to stop, and experiment with exploitative bet-sizing, you are likely to see your win rate against fish skyrocket…not to mention have a whole lot more fun at the tables.
Good luck!
