Something Fishy!

I have taken some nasty beats over the last few nights. Last night I lost three sit and go poker tournaments in a row. Following my bankroll rules I quit for the night. After a losing session like this I always take some time to reflect on my play. I try to determine if my results were due to poor play on my part or something else. There was definitely something "fishy" about my loses last night!

In all three tournaments I was knocked out by the "fish" at the table. In poker, we refer to bad player's as fish. Fish play too many hands and do not have the post-flop skill to back it up. They call too many bets after the flop. Fish stay too long in the hand trying to catch that miracle card. They hope their 2nd pair is good. They draw without the proper odds. We should all LOVE to have fish at the table. Because of their loose and passive play, fish are your primary source of food. You will make most of your profit from them and you should welcome them with open arms!

However, their poor playing also causes problems for the better players; the biggest problem is the suck-out. I have often heard good players complain about the number of bad beats they take. This should not be something to complain about (although we would all prefer that our good hands hold up!). A bad beat is when you get your money into the middle with the best hand and then someone draws out on you to win the pot. Because you are a better player you will get your money into the middle with the best hand more often than not. And as a result, others will draw out on you.

So, how should you play against the fish? I have three pieces of advice:

Avoid Coin Toss Situations

Many people make the mistake of pushing hands where they are only a small favorite to win. Although this is absolutely correct in a cash game situation, you should avoid it during tournament play, especially single table sit and go tournaments. For example, if you flop top pair on a semi-coordinated board and your opponent is drawing to a straight or flush. In this situation, they have almost a 40% chance of making their hand by the river. Against a good player you can move them off the pot by betting enough to make it mathematically incorrect for them to call. However, fish typically don't look at the math but instead draw to their straight or flush regardless of the odds. Avoid all-in confrontations in these situations unless you are in the money.

Push Your Monster Hands

In the situation where you have the probable best hand with a draw to the nuts, push these hands against the fish. Many times they will draw to a weaker hand than your draw. You want to look for ways to get all your money into the middle and extract as many chips as possible from your fishy opponent.

Use Implied Odds

If you are in a hand against a fish that has shown a tendency to play to the river and the fish has at least as many chips as you, use implied odds to justify drawing to the nuts. Many good players will fold to flop bets if they do not have the immediate odds to justify a call. However, if you make your hand against a fish, it is more likely that you will be able to get all their chips if you hit your hand. Against another good player, they will be aware of your draw and will shut down when it comes, so your implied odds are poor. However, against a fish, they will often not recognize when you hit your hand and will give up all their chips to a river push.

One last comment on playing against fish... embrace bad beats! Sure, we would both prefer that our hands always hold up. But again, if you are getting your money in with the best hand, you will experience more bad beats than those who only occasionally get their money in with the best hand. Embrace the fact that you are the better player and that you out-played your opponent. After you get your chips in, it is up to the poker gods whether or not your hand will hold up.