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Are Fish and Calling Stations the same thing?

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  1. #1

    Default Are Fish and Calling Stations the same thing?

    We have all heard people throw around the terms "fish", and "calling station", seemingly talking about the same type of player in both cases.
    I can only see this as being some kind of popular error.
    Personally I view a fish as someone who doesn't know shit about starting hand quality, pretty much never bluffs, checks a lot, but is susceptable to bluffing, meaning that they are quite timid after the flop. Basically like a Mouse, except he plays tons of starting hands then gives the pot away; thats what I see as being a fish.
    These are the players that I like to raise good preflop hands with and bet pot on the flop no matter what.
    I view a Calling Station as being the same thing, except you can't bluff them, they like to see out most of their draws, and some of them even go for any overcards they might have, trying to outpair you.

    Am I totally lost here?
    What are your views on these popular terms?
  2. #2
    Fish= easy money
    Types of fish---> Calling stations, maniacs, rocks, the complete newb ie mouse like you said.

    I might have left some out but its a good start.
  3. #3
    swiggidy's Avatar
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    Fish is any bad player that is easy to make money off of. If everytime they overbet it's a bluff, they're not timid or passive, but they're still a fish.

    Calling station is simply one type of fish.
    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
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  4. #4
    fish--> "like shootin' fish in a barrel"

    Basically anybody who's easy money. I don't use it too often, not specific / derogatory enough. I use:

    Donk- standard noob who plays too many hands, and is aggressive with crap / stacks off real easy (like a donkey; loud and dumb)

    Rock- ("like trying to squeeze blood from a rock") aka. the nit / the mouse. Basically a vagina in the form of a card player. Is so scared, won't bet anything except for the nuts /near nuts. Boring player, easy bluffing target.

    (calling) Station- pretty self-explanatory

    Luckbox (is really lucky / on a hot rush of cards, implies that the player's success has nothing to do with his skill, which is poor). I like this one b/c luck rhymes with f*** and so the insult sounds good.

    ATM / cash machine / broken ATM. This term is just pure genius.
  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by bigslikk
    fish--> "like shootin' fish in a barrel"

    Basically anybody who's easy money.
    I count any player I know I can beat as a fish/donator. I play NL10, so basically anyone good has won a few hundred bucks and moved up to NL25. I consider the ubernit multitabling regs to be fish, even when they show positive win rates in PT. I can make them spew chips heads up.

    Now there's fish, and then there's whales. If they're serious donators, call them Moby.
  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by bigslikk

    Rock- ("like trying to squeeze blood from a rock") aka. the nit / the mouse. Basically a vagina in the form of a card player. Is so scared, won't bet anything except for the nuts /near nuts. Boring player, easy bluffing target.
    That's bad definition of rock.

    Harrington plays like rock, Laak in HSP was a rock, even Doyle played his "nit" gear. Are all those players fishes?

    Weak-tight <> rock
    "How could I call that bet? How could you MAKE that bet? It's poker not solitaire. " - that Gus Bronson guy
  7. #7
    Chopper's Avatar
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    fish is a broad stroke of player. a general category of POOR.

    rock, call station, nit, LAGtard, donator, weak-tight, etc, are all SUB-categories of fish. they are all beatable, but by different means.

    however, because they ARE beatable, they ARE ALL part of the fish category.
    LHE is a game where your skill keeps you breakeven until you hit your rush of random BS.

    Nothing beats flopping quads while dropping a duece!
  8. #8
    bigred's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chopper
    however, because they ARE beatable, they ARE ALL part of the fish category.
    so does this make my wife a fish?
    LOL OPERATIONS
  9. #9
    F minus minus
  10. #10
    bigred's Avatar
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    shut up, you laughed
    LOL OPERATIONS
  11. #11
    i laughed
  12. #12
    Miffed22001's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bigred
    shut up, you laughed
    post content fish
  13. #13
    bigred's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Miffed22001
    Quote Originally Posted by bigred
    shut up, you laughed
    post content fish
    it was sooted
    LOL OPERATIONS
  14. #14
    I think 2+ years ago, fish was the guy who put a full stack in pre-flop with KTo... Few people at 100NL and lower ever really thought about folding or even smooth calling with QQ preflop because there were more of the above players, than there were nits who only pushed KK+ allin pre...

    Maybe for some the definitions have always been the same, but I recall Fnord's post in the Half-stack approach to NL... "Today's multi-tabling ABC player is the new fish." It seems reasonable to call any player you can make money off of "a fish". But I think the term has evolved a lot post-UIGEA.
    So you click their picture and then you get their money?
  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by kingnat
    I recall Fnord's post in the Half-stack approach to NL... "Today's multi-tabling ABC player is the new fish." It seems reasonable to call any player you can make money off of "a fish". But I think the term has evolved a lot post-UIGEA.
    So grinders are fish? LoL. I probably am a fish, but since I'm just learning ABC poker and hope to grow past it, I don't mind the label.

    I forget who said it, Steve Badger (I think), that small sharks eat the fish, and bigger sharks eat smaller sharks. So...the key to table/level selection is to make sure you're one of the biggest fish in the pool at the time, or you'll just become lunch.
  16. #16
    Seabass's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vrax
    Quote Originally Posted by bigslikk

    Rock- ("like trying to squeeze blood from a rock") aka. the nit / the mouse. Basically a vagina in the form of a card player. Is so scared, won't bet anything except for the nuts /near nuts. Boring player, easy bluffing target.
    That's bad definition of rock.

    Harrington plays like rock, Laak in HSP was a rock, even Doyle played his "nit" gear. Are all those players fishes?

    Weak-tight <> rock
    Depends on what type of rock he is, there are games where it correct to play realy tight. There are rock type players who abuse there image to 3bet light and make bluffs. But then there is the fish rock who play realy tight and aint folding his big hands ever postflop. A easy target.

    Example of a fish rock, I had the button vs a rock players bb. Whenever it was folded around to me I would raise any 2 cards, over the session he called me once and I check folded postflop when I missed. He then opened 5bb utg+1, I'm in the BB and calls with 99. Flopping top set I open into him, he reraised, I pushed and he calls with JJ. I was ofc a "fking lucky fish" and he was playing great.
  17. #17
    One more question....what does it mean when someone says that a player is a bomb, is that like a maniac, or is that the guy who took sklansky a little too seriously and moves all in preflop every time he gets a top 10 hand (I prefer to call them Rocket Launchers)?
  18. #18
    I see a fish as a anyone that is new to poker, calling station is a type of play which IMO this person is still a fish but they are hard to bluff and you will alway get some action from them.

    I don't think calling stations are so much hard to bluff you just have to do it slowly when playing them, for example my sister-in-law is definitely a fish who happens to be a calling station as well, she will call anything you can beat her 8-out-of 10 times the key with her is that you have to play as close to normal as possible but stretch it out until the end she will continue to call you to the end as long as you don't get crazy with other betting eventually they do get it. thanks

    Michelle
  19. #19
    Jack Sawyer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robb
    Now there's fish, and then there's whales. If they're serious donators, call them Moby.

    Whales are mammals, fyi


    Whales in the gambling world are high-rollers



    Actually, I like to refer to my friends at the table as "goldfish" or "nemo", but that's personal preference
    My dream... is to fly... over the rainbow... so high...


    Cogito ergo sum

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  20. #20
    I tend to avoid the term because it doesn't really provide much information. There are all sorts of players with really bad leaks.

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