It’s very surprising that over recent years the level of boasting a win against an opponent has took an upwards turn. Even more surprising is that this tendency not only occurs on the free online poker sites but also on the money tables. Scaring a smaller “fish” away is not a very shrewd tactic; as keeping this player involved should result in winning their money. On the contrary this type of player may not realise their own lack of ability, and consequently the longer you can keep them in the “water” the more of their money you can win. Hence the saying: “don’t tap the aquarium”.

You want to people to gamble. You even want fish to get lucky a few times so that they’ll keep gambling. That is why you should try to treat fish with respect. You want them to enjoy themselves and have a good time.

You may even congratulate them on their bad play to make them think that they’re playing correctly. This, of course, would be a form of hustling that some people wouldn’t be comfortable with engaging in.

If you don’t feel like hustling the fish, then you should at least try keeping it jovial at the table. By creating a fun atmosphere at the free online poker tables, people will care less about the money that they’re throwing around and start playing loose and wild. This is what you want if you’re a good player. You’ll be playing solid poker, while they’ll be throwing their money away.

No one likes being disrespected and the chances are if you’re obnoxious or impolite, your fish will find another bowl to swim in (table to play at) and inevitably take their purse with them. By pushing this opponent away you will have potentially pushed away money you could have won from their blunders.

Can you imagine if everybody played well? The game of poker would be very tough to beat.

The main goal of playing good poker is to make as many correct decisions as you can, while forcing your opponents to make as many incorrect decisions as you can. It’s much easier to encourage bad players to make bad decisions, so you shouldn’t scare them away. In the long run, you’ll profit from their bad plays.

The game of Poker is competitive, and by pointing out opponents mistakes you will not only get the fishes back up- you will be helping them develop. They may take this one step further and decide to take some time away from the table to find ways to improve. Like most things- the more you play the better you become, especially when your opponents helping you realise your errors. Sure enough the fish soon develops into a competent player and the chances of taking their money has gone from a given to a struggle.

The modern game is fast becoming harder to win; this is partly due to the masses of knowledge that’s available to learn from. The difference in standard today compared to when I first started playing many years ago is massive.

I continue to play free online poker where there’s still plenty of cash available to win- but you will never catch me “tapping the fish tank”!!