Following The Fish...

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

'There's an online concept that I don't think gets discussed enough, and it's called "following the fish". It doesn't happen often, but occasionally you'll play against a player who plays extraordinarily bad. Maybe he's on tilt, maybe he's playing way over his bankroll, maybe he is new to the game, what ever the case may be, he's an extra special fish. You can spot him particularly when you do a search on him, and he's single tabling, or perhaps is at one other table. If he's multi-tabling 4 or more tables, then you need to re-evaluate if he's really a fish or not, or if you've just had a strange series of hands going down. It's rare to see uber fish multi tabling. But if he's at just one, and is playing like a total donk, then stick with the fish. If he gets up off your table, do a search for him, and keep doing a search for him for the few minutes, to see if he's moved tables to another game. If he has, go to that game. Sometimes he'll move to up in levels, to a much higher limit game than you normally play. If he really is an uber fish, then follow him! You'll be in a position to maximally take advantage of him, because you will know what kind of player he is, but the other players at his table won't know for a few hands, and hopefully during that time you can break him before they do. Don't be afraid to go to a limit that's higher than your normal game ( within reason, of course). The time is NOW to take a gamble, to take a shot at a higher limit, because you know there's at least one terrible player ,that you already have a read on, who's probably tilting and playing way over his bankroll, and is looking to give it away ( hopefully to you) Don't get all Sklansky and 2+2 and rigiid about your bankroll.. you are in a huge +ev situation, and you need to take advantage of it. If the fish bounces tables, follow him again. Always follow a fish, never let them out of your site till they bust or quit. Game selection is really what winning poker is all about, IMO.

[gfdsa146 0]

I've come accross maybe 2 or 3 of these people already. The problem is when they get up from my table, its usually cuz someone busted them. So i do a search on the fish, and it turns out the guy has had enough of bleeding money and decides to just log off. I keep searching though, but they never seem to log back on, probably because they managed to spew off their BR at other tables.

[Ko8e34 0]

Very good strat, I've made a couple buyins using this strat, usually LHE players who bet every street with any pp regardless of the board/situation.

[kkot 0]

Solid post. It isn't too common to find people so bad that you really want to follow him around. But I think these situations have to be among the most profitable.

[Veener Schnitz 0]

So what you're saying is no matter if the fish moves up levels to where you aren't even rolled for, still follow him? Just tell the rest of the players not to play back at you because you just want to bust the fish again, they'll understand. This sounds destined for a this is why i'm broke topic.

[BeaverStyle 1]

I've definitely done this before.

[kkot 0]

So what you're saying is no matter if the fish moves up levels to where you aren't even rolled for, still follow him? Just tell the rest of the players not to play back at you because you just want to bust the fish again, they'll understand. This sounds destined for a this is why i'm broke topic.

Yea, you could lose a chunk of your roll. I did this the other night and ended up losing about 25% of my roll. Whatever. It was a hell of a situation and I would gladly do it again. When we play poker we are looking for optimal situations. This is one of them.

[Knollie919 0]

I've definitely done this before.

its true i watched him follow psufans2 around for like 2 hours lol

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

So what you're saying is no matter if the fish moves up levels to where you aren't even rolled for, still follow him? Just tell the rest of the players not to play back at you because you just want to bust the fish again, they'll understand. This sounds destined for a this is why i'm broke topic.

A) I said " within reason" I don't think there's any problem with taking a shot at a higher limit than you normally play, if it's +ev enough. Obviously, I don't think you should jump from like .50/1 NL to 10/20 or something stupid like that.. if he makes that kind of jump, he was probably just nutbarring at a lower lvl for fun, or was trying some new wierd strat at a lower level, and isn't really a fish. but if he makes the jump from .50/1 to 1/2 or 2/4, I say take the shot.B) The fish will have just arrived at the table, so it will take a while for the others at the table to realize he's a fish. As I said, there will be a lag time.C) avoid confrontations against other players at your table, besides the fish, unless necessary. While this will reduce your EV against the other players, it will reduce your variance and allow you to maximize your +ev from the fish.

[Gallo 1]

I've definitely been followed before.

FYP

[BeaverStyle 1]

FYP

oooooh a bolded FYP... you so silly

[socalpoker_j 1]

Is this the over worded idea of going where the game is good/profitable without allowing the risk of a big loss to affect that decision making process?

[Figger 0]

If I were a fish, then I'd want to be this one.Horny...I mean thorny.

[KentuckySlim 0]

I've definitely been the victim of this before.

FYPEff. Way behind the game. NH Gallo.

[GWCGWC 83]

Stop following me.STALKER

[checkymcfold 0]

this is a really, really good post. none of us, no matter how much we say we do, do this enough.

[Jam-Fly 8]

'There's an online concept that I don't think gets discussed enough, and it's called "following the fish". It doesn't happen often, but occasionally you'll play against a player who plays extraordinarily bad. Maybe he's on tilt, maybe he's playing way over his bankroll, maybe he is new to the game, what ever the case may be, he's an extra special fish. You can spot him particularly when you do a search on him, and he's single tabling, or perhaps is at one other table. If he's multi-tabling 4 or more tables, then you need to re-evaluate if he's really a fish or not, or if you've just had a strange series of hands going down. It's rare to see uber fish multi tabling. But if he's at just one, and is playing like a total donk, then stick with the fish. If he gets up off your table, do a search for him, and keep doing a search for him for the few minutes, to see if he's moved tables to another game. If he has, go to that game. Sometimes he'll move to up in levels, to a much higher limit game than you normally play. If he really is an uber fish, then follow him! You'll be in a position to maximally take advantage of him, because you will know what kind of player he is, but the other players at his table won't know for a few hands, and hopefully during that time you can break him before they do. Don't be afraid to go to a limit that's higher than your normal game ( within reason, of course). The time is NOW to take a gamble, to take a shot at a higher limit, because you know there's at least one terrible player ,that you already have a read on, who's probably tilting and playing way over his bankroll, and is looking to give it away ( hopefully to you) Don't get all Sklansky and 2+2 and rigiid about your bankroll.. you are in a huge +ev situation, and you need to take advantage of it. If the fish bounces tables, follow him again. Always follow a fish, never let them out of your site till they bust or quit. Game selection is really what winning poker is all about, IMO.

haha, I love it.Good post

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

this is a really, really good post. none of us, no matter how much we say we do, do this enough.

agreed, that's why I brought it up, despite the seemingly obvious nature of it. Im not talking about the bottom 20 percent, either, I'm talking aobut the bottom 2 percent

[Suited_Up 2]

I used to do this alot on Party.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

haha, I love it.Good post

My two favorite poker adjectives are Sklansky ( for rigid, ABC thinking ( even though I think some of his books are gold)) And Caro for tell related stuff or table image stuffm and other out of the box type stuff ( even though he has a really solid mathematical foundation). I got into poker right before the boom, and their stuff was pretty much the only good poker reading material. These days, due to their lack tourney success, or ultra high stakes success, I think many of their ideas are scoffed and mocked, but I still think they are solid authors for the learner.

[sirch1 0]

I used to do this alot on Party.

i miss the buddylist on party

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

I used to do this alot on Party.

I used to do alot of things on party.. like win.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

i miss the buddylist on party

QFT Is there any marginally legal program out ther ethat lets you buddy list people on stars?

[xzanos 0]

I used to do this alot on Party.

i miss the buddylist on party

So one day i found this fish. He stacked off a couple times at 3/6 nl, then moved to 2/4, and I followed him. He lost some there, then I followed him to 1/2. After losing some more there, he left for a .50/1 table. At that point, I decided that it would be too conspicuous if I showed up at his table again, so I got on the AIM to one of my buddies. I told him to sit with this guy, and if he lost, I'd cover it. (no way he had more than two buyins in his account)So my buddy sits, and within one orbit, he gets KK twice, and AA once, and had the fish shoved into him pf twice and my buddy stacked the fish twice. Fish left shortly thereafter. All in all, I got about $1800 from this guy and my buddy $200. Neither of us ever saw him again. It was a pretty decent, and entertaining, day.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

i miss the buddylist on partySo one day i found this fish. He stacked off a couple times at 3/6 nl, then moved to 2/4, and I followed him. He lost some there, then I followed him to 1/2. After losing some more there, he left for a .50/1 table. At that point, I decided that it would be too conspicuous if I showed up at his table again, so I got on the AIM to one of my buddies. I told him to sit with this guy, and if he lost, I'd cover it. (no way he had more than two buyins in his account)So my buddy sits, and within one orbit, he gets KK twice, and AA once, and had the fish shoved into him pf twice and my buddy stacked the fish twice. Fish left shortly thereafter. All in all, I got about $1800 from this guy and my buddy $200. Neither of us ever saw him again. It was a pretty decent, and entertaining, day.

This is a good point!! Don't be ashamed to move down a limit to follow a fish. The rule applies both ways!