Tackling fishes

That’s what you should be thinking when you’re playing someone who is making ridiculous bets, check-calling second pair all the way to the river and generally making dodgy plays. Sometimes they’ll outdraw you but more often than not you should be coming out on top, and the longer they sit at the table with you the better. As such, it doesn’t take a huge leap of logic to realise it’s in your interests to keep the fish shiny and happy.

Whether you moan and groan about an outdraw, or congratulate someone with a friendly ‘well played’, the outcome of the hand you just lost will be the same. When you think about it that way, it should make sense that giving someone a pat on the back for their bad play is generally the better option. By creating a sociable atmosphere and making the game seem less about the money and more about the thrill of pulling moves, you can encourage opponents into a different style of play. They’ll enter more pots with weaker hands, often out of position (which can be a major swing for you), and not worry about all the little pots that are pushed your way.

This sense of a fun, enjoyable game can be infectious and is more likely to pull in players who are anteing up more for entertainment than pure profit, and that makes for a juicy table in my reckoning. Some big-name live players have been trading on this table etiquette for years. The more fun you make a game the more people will want to play with you, a high proportion of whom are not necessarily winning players.

Paranoid warning signs

In turn, it should make sense that when other people at the table are going out of their way to have some banter with you, especially on a recurring basis, they may be trying to reel you in! When you suspect this is happening you should have a quick review of the hands you’ve played against them and work out if they’re purely having some chitchat or if they’ve got you pegged as a fish. If it’s the latter, you know you’ll be getting called down more lightly and can afford to get out of line with bigger hands. There’s a silver lining to every cloud!

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