As you have surely noticed, in poker there is a term for everything. A term that usually comes from English and that you get to know as you gain experience. It is important to expand the glossary that you handle, it will be a sign that you are beginning to specialize and to know more edges of poker.

In this article we are going to focus on the figure of the bumhunter. A bumhunter, or bumhunter in poker, refers to that type of player who only considers the option of taking a seat at an online cash table if there is a weak player. He flat out refuses to play against any other type of player, and when he can’t find minnows, he tends to stay out of hands and fold.

What is the role of a bumhunter in a poker game? What is their game like? Can they be recognized? We tell you everything you need to know about this specific type of player.

What is bumhunting in poker?

We call “bunhunting” the practice based on playing only against weak players. The bumhunt consists of playing exclusively against weak players, minnows who have just arrived and are still getting familiar with poker, or those who barely have enough tables to face higher level players.

Bumhunters are usually patient players. If they join an online heads-up cash table and there are no weak players, they wait until one arrives to start playing. Identifying them when you are not the weak player gives you a strategic advantage, since it allows you to both identify the weak player at the table and draw the bumhunter’s attention away from you.

You can take advantage of this if the bumhunter has managed to fleece several weak players and has a good amount of chips in his possession, although you can only do this when the bumhunter enters the game, which will be when there is a weak player in the hand.

Nowadays, bumhunting is something that has become a problem in some platforms, which have become real nests of bumhunters.

While bumhunting as such is not a dishonest practice, practiced en masse it can neutralize the competitive and fair component of the game. If a good part of the cash tables stop being a stage to enjoy poker and become ambushes for novices, a remodeling of the platform is necessary, since weaker players also have the right to enjoy poker despite their low level of experience.

How a bumhunter acts

The procedure of a bumhunter in poker is almost always the same. He joins a cash table, starts studying the players and tries to identify if there is a player notably weaker than the rest. If he spots him, he will play the hand and go after him, because he thinks he has a good chance of winning money against him. If not, he will withdraw from the hand or, if he is waiting too long or is impatient, he will leave the table.

The play of a bumbler in poker is difficult to predict, but they are usually players who opt for a tight tactic. Since they think they have a good chance of beating the opponent they consider weak, they tend not to overplay.

However, it can happen that a bumhunter shows impatience or exaggerated aggressiveness if he is not careful with his tells or has not bothered to work to disguise them.

Pros and cons of being a bumhunter

Although for many the debate is still open as to how ethical it can be to be a bumhunter, precisely because you are facing only weaker and lower-level players, it is clear that this practice has its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of bumhunting

  • It assures you recurring profits.
  • It allows you to play reducing risks and not overplaying.
  • You will not need to study their tells, and your strategy can be much more conservative.

Disadvantages of being a bumhunter

  • You close the door to face opponents of your level with whom you can have a chance of winning.
  • You limit your learning threshold, as going for weak players is the “comfortable” option.
  • You’ll be very easy to get in, and everyone will x-ray your game.
  • You can wait a long time for a weak player to appear, if the table is not favorable.
  • You will only be able to squeeze the same player a few times before he realizes that he has no chance with you and avoids facing you.
  • You can make a bad impression at the table by only facing players who are below your level.