A “fish” in live poker or online poker is a polite term for a weak player, a losing player or a beginner. In poker games the world over, weak players are known by various names and many of them are not pleasant. Be it “rabbit, fish, mug, live one, sucker, chip dumper, greenhorn” or any other of the numerous descriptions that abound, it amounts to one thing…..a person who the pro’s and superior players expect to take money from. A very well used and famous poker quote is “if after fifteen minutes at a poker table you still cannot spot the sucker…..it’s you!“ This statement was heard in the movie “Rounders” with Matt Damon and has been recited in countless poker books and other poker literature.

It is however, very true and is an indication that in most poker games, the skill level of the participating individuals can vary immensely. The truth is that many players simply do not even realise that they fall into this category. Because the poker playing population in general is predominantly male, there is the inevitable ego factor involved. Poker prowess is considered a macho thing by many of us males. Many people think that poker skill is something that one is born with, to a certain extent this is true. There are indeed many skills that a top player needs in order to succeed that simply cannot be taught. However, that does not mean that tuition and guidance can be overlooked when you learn poker.

Because many players do not realise that they need to be educated at poker, they do not attempt to seek it out. Poker is abound with famous quotes and another famous one is “you can be the tenth best player in the world, but if you persist in sitting at a game with the other nine players in the world who are better than you then you are going to be a losing player”. This last quote highlights something very important whenever we are on the subject of “fish”. A “fish” or “live one” does not have to be a weak or unskilled player. It is entirely relative to the game that a player is in. No top pro would knowingly sit down in a game with nine other players of superior ability, so the famous quote above is somewhat academic. No top player would ever allow himself to be a “fish”.

Someone could actually have very poor poker skills and be somewhat of a “shark” in their game simply because the other players were worse than them. The conclusion to this is that a lack of grounding in poker theory and knowledge does not necessarily make someone a fish, the flip side to this is that any player can suddenly become one even if they have a long history of winning. It is not necessarily how much poker wisdom you have but how much you have in relation to your opponents that is the important issue here. Look out for part two coming soon.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

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