When people are seeking out poker sites at which they would like to play, they often seek out things like wide variety of games, ease of deposit, and other similar items. While these are definitely good facets of a site to check out, something most people do not check out is the fishiness of a given poker room. In fact, you would be surprised by just how many people do not know the term “fishy poker sites” at all!

For those who are unaware, a fishy site is one that sees experienced players quickly and easily take advantage of newcomers who are just looking to get their toes wet playing online poker. Determining which online poker rooms are fishy and which sites are not is not something that is so easy for an individual to do. Knowing this, it becomes incredibly important for one to do some research before ever depositing or beginning to play. Would you rather pick off the fish – or have the sharks pick you off? Figuring out how to stay away from the latter situation becomes that much more important in finding a fishy poker site.

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What Makes a Site Fishy?

A fishy poker site is often one that sees recreational poker players getting slaughtered by experienced players who know what they are doing. Though many fishy poker sites exist, they all exist for different reasons. One of the biggest reason a site might be fishier than others is because it is known for attracting new players. With hoards of inexperienced poker players flocking to a particular site, it only takes a handful of players to slow tables down, create a boring game, and ultimately take the money of those new players.

Because fishy sites play host to hundreds of inexperienced, recreational players, it is no surprise that many fishy poker sites exist due to the fact that poker is not all that is offered. In many cases, fishy sites are often bred from a sites in which their business  online casino that just so happens to also offer poker games. If avid sports bettors are looking to take a break from their regular grind, they may choose to play a few hands of poker. It is at this moment when new players are making a mistake that may lose them money.

Why You Should Be Playing at These Types of Sites

If you are wondering why anyone would ever play at one of these soft poker sites, the answer is simple; no one seeks out particularly tough competition. For new players especially, the prospect of a fishy poker site is exactly what someone might be looking for. Rather than immediately pit yourself against grinders who really know how to make money playing poker, playing at an easier site affords you the ability to gain experience playing poker without being forced to shell out large sums of cash.

Sticking to Low to Medium-Sized Games

Because the sites are being described as easy, one might be led to believe that there is never much cash at stake. The reality, however, is that there is plenty of cash on the line at plenty of sites. Typically, most poker rooms nowadays offer games across all stake levels—regardless of how small the room is—so just because a site is described as “soft”, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s cheap.

All too often people believe that because a site is fishy, soft, or easy, it means that someone with a bit of skill can quickly become rich by playing there. In real life, however, the fact of the matter is that a fishy site does not necessarily guarantee that you will ever win any money. Even if you are an experienced poker player, focusing all of your attention to fishy sites guarantees you nothing. No matter your experience level, however, there is no way you can be sure that you will come away a winner any specific number of times, especially if you don’t jump up to the more shark-infested higher stakes games.

Moving up to bigger games too fast has been the downfall of many a fish and you should definitely stick to comfortable games that don’t endanger your bankroll too much. You want to be the person that takes out the players who move up from micro stakes games to take shots at your $100 to $200 NL table – not be the person who moves all the way up to $1000 NL and up games only to be eaten up by sharks who spend hours a day waiting for the right fish to come along.

“Bonus Whoring 101” for Fish

Apart from the existence of other casino/sportsbook features, another common characteristic of most fishy sites is the existence of a large quantity of bonuses. Both welcome bonuses and recurring deposit bonuses fit the bill, and the more there are the higher the likelihood is that you are dealing with a fishy site. These types of bonuses keep players curious and more often than not, they’ll usually always lose their first deposit in a matter of days.

And since more and more of these poker sites are moving over to a recreational type model anyways, eliminating once notorious perks like rakeback in favor of VIP programs that hardly give out much in terms of long term cash back for more table play, the traffic at these cardrooms have definitely been on the rise. With that being said more and more recreational players have been coming out of the wood works to start testing the poker waters again and get instantly hooked on instant deposit bonuses and will often deposit multiples times before possibly throwing in the towel.

Like has been mentioned over and over again, fishy sites are most often deemed as being fishy due to the existence of a player population that is widely dominated by inexperienced players. In the same breath, it must also be mentioned that new players who are looking to test their luck are also looking to stretch their money as far as it will go. Knowing this, it only makes sense that many of these players find themselves at the sites that are offering the most robust, most attractive welcome and first deposit bonuses.