If I was to ask to sign up to a poker room of your choice, I’m guessing that most of you would chose to sign up to one of the big rooms that you see on the TV most of the time - I’m thinking mainly of Pokerstars and Full Tilt here. Maybe UB.com.

The purpose of this post though is to encourage you to look elsewhere. I want you to shun the big sites and instead look for a slightly smaller site that you might not have seen on TV. Bear with me as I explain why - I think you’ll find it will be worth your while.

The first thing which needs to be said is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the likes of Stars or Tilt. In fact, they’re the posterboys of the online poker industry - they’ve got the best software, the most players and the biggest tournaments.

But that’s precisely why I chose to look elsewhere.

Don’t get me wrong though. I (along with every other sane person on the planet!) would love to finish my weekend by taking down the Pokerstars Sunday Million and going to bed deciding which car, boat or plane I was going to buy the next morning.

Realistically though that isn’t going to happen, because a tournament with that much prize money on offer is going to attract the best players in the world (including most of the guys you see on the TV!) and unless you’re an exceptional poker player yourself, you’re going to find these guys taking your chip stack within half an hour of sitting down next to you.

Now, that’s not fun. I mean, you play poker to win money, right?

So take a step back, ignore the big money tournaments and instead pick out one of a number of fishy poker sites out there that will allow you to build a steady bankroll.

What’s all this about Fish?!

When you’re talking to poker players, a fishy player is someone who generally doesn’t know what they’re doing.

They’re the table’s favourite player because they cough up chips left, right and centre not understanding what pot odds or equity and generally being happy when they’ve made a pair - even if it’s a low pair!

You want to find the fishiest poker site out there and get playing … because you’ll win. And we’re not just talking a couple of dollars here and there, we’re talking some life changing amounts of money.

Remember, online poker is a very competitive industry so even the smaller rooms out there run weekly MTT tournaments with a Guaranteed $50k, $80k or even $100k in prize money.

Ok, so it’s not quite on the same scale as the Sunday Million, but I’ll quite happily play for a smaller amount of cash if I know that I stand a good chance of winning it. I mean who wouldn’t want a $50k pay day a few times a year??!

So where do these players come from?

You’re probably thinking that this is too good to be true - I mean, why would poker players continue to play poker if they’re obviously no good at it?

Well, you have to remember that these fishy poker rooms are usually connected to online casinos or sportsbooks. They’re not dedicated poker sites like Full Tilt.

Therefore, what you’ll find is that most of the players that sit down at these tables are doing so just to kill a bit of time before their next race starts. Sure, they know the rules of the game but they’re not particular good at it … they’re quite happy to throw $5 into a tournament prize pool though if it will kill 10 or 15 minutes.

So the next time you’re thinking about sitting down to an evening of poker, bear this article in mind. Yes, you can head on over to Pokerstars with the rest of the crowd. Or you can leave that fish bowl and head elsewhere to become a shark.