Spotting the fish at the table?

Spotting the fish in a live game is much easier than online tourneys and cash games. What are some tells or habits that i should look for besides playing very loose?

Thank you all.

The main thing, fish do wrong, is to play to many hands. Other fish tells include:

* limping preflop
* posting
* weird stack size (not buying in full, not topping up)
* donk betting a flop, that favour the preflop raiser
* weird bet sizes like a min-bet or a massive overbet out of nowhere

The points about posting and weird stack sizes only apply to cash games. Also limping can be a reasonable strategy in some tournament situations, when stacks are short. Finally it is obviously also relevant to observe, what hands people show down. If he has something, he clearly should not have played, then you dont need a large sample to conclude, he is a fish.

-The mini-raise or 3bet of 1bb with a stack of +100bb
-Bet 75% of the stack on flop and turn and fold on the river
-Open raise all-in with deep stacks.

0MRBLACK said:

Spotting the fish in a live game is much easier than online tourneys and cash games. What are some tells or habits that i should look for besides playing very loose?

Thank you all.

Click to expand...

my thing is are they a mechanic or are they there for fun a tourist...

a mechanic you can spot they will have a nice stack when sitting at a new table.... they seem friendly often or affable easy to strike u conversations because they are in their realm and comfortable

a tourist is what your looking for its a big deal for them to be here they are overly excited often playing down to the river with medicore cards or second or third pair on board

these are the fish and whom your looking for is honestly easy to spot the difference

is other descriptions you will run across people with stacks whom are not mechanics they happen to be maniacs this person can serious hurt your stack but if you become a mechanic its all about time and patience if you wait out an maniac you can own them and that money becomes yours

Short stack. Limping. Min 3beting. Looking at showdowns.

A couple of other things to look at their VPIP - PFR, Steal stats, fold to steal, aggression factor, and donk frequency. If they limp or fold to people not playing or are HBLs(high blind limpers).

In cash games look at if they are buying in for full stack. Or if they post the BB instead of waiting for it.

I also like to look at if they are positionally aware ie are they limping the button or raising bad hands in early position.

There are some very clear signs of fish at an online table. Most relate to betting frequency and bet sizes.

Pay attention to how many hands they play (if you have a HUD, this is super easy)
What do their bet sizes look like? Are they min 3-betting, or massive over betting pre-flop?
Do they call with speculative hands without the right odds?
The biggest information you can gather is when they show their cards. Was it reasonable for them to even be in that hand based on their cards and their position and the action before them.
Are they adjusting their range based on their position, or are they playing the same range regardless of position?