Think Like a Fish

I wrote yesterday about two players in a tournement I busted out of that I just couldn't understand, I for calling all his chips with an awful hand, and the other for showing his cards then playing the same hand the same way. Today I thought I'd write about some fish strategies that I can wrap my brain around, even if I think they are losing strategies.

Going All-in On Middle Pairs. You've seen these guys; from any position pre-flop they will go all-in with a middle pair (I am talking about players who do this with deep stacks and full tables). I think these guys look down and see a pretty pair and feel they deserve to win a pot because its so pretty, but know that most of the time against multiple opponents they will lose. And while one might think that the times they get called by a higher pair would teach them not to do this, I suspect that the 90% of the time that they win the blinds makes them forget that they lose much more when they get called.

Kicker-less I know this strategy all too well, because there was a time when it was me. If these guys see an ace or maybe even a king in their hand they don't care what the other card is; after all they might make top pair. Top pair! Like the previous strategy fish stick with this because it wins them lots of small pots, with only the occasional pot that completely busts them.

Suited Connectors We all know where the fish learnt this from, tv. As if the countless name players who like them wasn't enough, good old Mike Sexton has too remind everyone at least once per episode that suited connectors are "the kind of hand you like to see flops with". Of course, the thing no one tells the fish is that only a lot of experience will help you navigate the all too common experience of hitting the flop soft. And without that experience suited connectors can be huge -ev.

Bluff-aholic Being able to bluff is one of the things that make poker, poker. Unfortunately some people love bluffing, but have almost no idea what is required to do it. All the bluff-aholic knows is that he can't win this pot based on his cards, and that he really doesn't want to lose this pot (or any pot in some cases). The bluff-aholic hasn't yet gotten to the level of understanding what hands his opponents might have, or what hands they might be putting him on; for them bluffing isn't a well timed strategic maneauver, its a desperate attempt to make up for bad cards. The reason players keep playing this losing strategy is that the motivation for it never goes away, and it feels so good when it works (plus when it fails some will rationalize that they were going to lose anyways, so whats a few more chips - they had to try)

Ultra Passive There is something that is beautiful about calling in a heads up situation - your opponent can't do anything else; your call has ended the betting for that round. If you are scared of your opponent, as the ultra passive usually are, the last thing you want to do is give your opponent another chance to do something scary. That same fear justifies never betting out as well; if you are terrified of losing chips, the last thing you want to do is risk them. I think that unlike some of the other strategies I have meniton that some of the ultra passive actually know its bad strategy; but they just can't get over the fear that they might lose this hand.

I'm going to stop here, at least for now. I guess contrary to my emotional rant yesterday, there are a lot of fish out there who make perfect sense if you just think like a fish.