Often, pro players drop winning tips that encourage you to chase giant sharks and golden dragons. But is that always smart advice? We hope to show you in this resource why the opposite approach of targeting small fish might be a better strategy.
This fish table strategy guide covers the techniques that experienced players use to stay in the green while everyone else watches their credits disappear.
Why Your Shots Cost More Than You Think
The core of fish table games is shooting. Every single bullet you fire costs you credits. When you don’t keep track of costs, they can add up faster than you expect.
With 1,000 credits set at $0.50 per shot. You can burn through 400 credits in 10 minutes only to have 150 in winnings. This means you spent more on ammunition than you earned from captures.
The Bet Size Trap
Most players think that bigger bets mean bigger wins. Sometimes that’s true, but bigger bets also mean you’re burning through credits at lightning speed. A $2 shot gives you a powerful cannon, sure, but it also means you only get 500 attempts with a 1,000-credit balance.
Dropping that bet to $0.20 per shot means you get 5,000 attempts. That’s 10 times as many chances to actually capture fish and rebuild your balance. When you’re still learning accuracy and timing, volume beats power every single time.
Small Fish Are Your Best Friends (Even Though They Look Boring)
Tiny fishes pay within $0.30-$0.60? Imagine getting 5,000 attempts and focusing on small fish rather than big ones. You’re going to make more money than the massive creatures worth $10-$20.
The rationale behind focusing on small fish is:
- You’ll actually catch them. Small fish die in 2-4 shots with success rates around 80-90%. Bigger fish will need 25+ bullets, and there’s only a 30% chance you’ll kill it before it swims away. You just spent $12.50 chasing a $15 prize that you probably won’t even get.
- You catch them fast. In the time it takes to hunt down one big fish, you could’ve captured 6-8 small ones.
- Your balance stays healthy. Every shot at a big fish is a gamble. With small fish, you know within 3-4 bullets if you’re going to succeed.
The Real Math
By tracking 50 player captures across the small and big fish strategies, we observed the following.
Big fish strategy: 7 successful captures out of 20 attempts (35% success rate). Average bullets spent per attempt: 18 shots at $0.50 = $9 cost. Average payout: $12. Net profit per attempt: -$1.80 (yes, negative).
Small fish strategy: 42 successful captures out of 50 attempts (84% success rate). Average bullets spent per capture: 3 shots at $0.20 = $0.60 cost. Average payout: $0.80. Net profit per attempt: $0.17.
Over 50 attempts, the big fish strategy lost me $90. The small fish strategy made me $8.50. The small wins don’t feel as exciting, but at least you have much more balance.
Reading Fish Like a Pro: Timing Is Everything
Fishes don’t just randomly swim around. They follow patterns, and once you spot them, you can avoid the most expensive mistakes players make.
Don’t Shoot Fish That Are Leaving
Oftentimes, during gameplay, you will come across a massive crab worth $8 that’s 75% off the edge of your screen. Resist the urge to pursue the wins; let it go.
This is because fish that are almost off-screen are about to exit completely. You might fire 10 bullets, and right as you’re about to finish it off—poof, it’s gone. You just wasted $5 on nothing.
Slow Fish Beat Fast Fish
Fast-swimming fish look exciting, but they’re accuracy killers. You end up leading your shots, predicting where they’ll be, and missing half the time. Meanwhile, slow-moving fish basically let you line up perfect shots.
When you see a cluster of targets, always go for the slowest ones first unless something super valuable is literally sitting still. Your hit rate matters more than how impressive your targets look.
The best way to master these timing windows is to practice on platforms with free-play modes, such as Vegas7 Slots online, where you can watch patterns without burning through your balance.
Power-Ups: Cool to Use, Expensive to Abuse
Using special weapons is fun. But they can become a wrong expense when you abuse them.
The Hidden Cost Nobody Mentions
That freeze cannon that triples your catch rate? It also costs 6 times your normal bet per shot. The same applies to the bomb that hits everything on scree. It costs 15-20 times your base bet.
So, unless you’re targeting fish worth 10+ times your regular targets, you’re actually losing money using some of these power-ups. Also, when you use them, confirm if the fish on your screen are worth the amount spent on these special weapons.
When Power-Ups Actually Make Sense
Using power-ups is a good strategy when:
- Your screen is absolutely packed with medium-value fish moving slowly,
- You’re facing a stationary boss that would otherwise eat 40 bullets, or
- You’re at the end of your session and want to take one calculated big shot with your remaining balance.
Ask yourself this before activating anything: “Is this power-up going to improve my credits-per-bullet ratio, or does it just look cool?”
Your Bankroll Is Not a Suggestion
Even if you master every technique in this guide, you’ll still go broke if you don’t manage your credits properly. I’ve watched too many players nail the strategy but blow everything because they didn’t set limits.
The 5% Rule That Actually Works
Never make individual shots worth more than 5% of your current balance. If you have 1,000 credits, keep your bets under 50 credits per shot. This gives you enough attempts to ride out bad luck without risking disaster.
Know When to Walk Away
Set two numbers before every session: a win goal (usually 30-50% growth) and a loss limit (typically 40-50% of your starting credits). When you hit either number, you stop. It’s a great strategy to avoid losing your winnings by chasing more wins.
The Advanced Stuff (Once You’ve Got the Basics Down)
After you consistently catch small fish and protect your bankroll, these techniques will squeeze extra value out of every session.
Shoot Where Fish Are Going, Not Where They Are
Fast-moving fish require you to lead your shots. This means you aim slightly ahead of where they’re swimming. This takes practice, but once you get it, you’ll start landing shots on valuable, speedy targets that beginners miss completely.
Look for Overlaps
Sometimes two or three small fish will swim close enough together that one bullet damages multiple targets. When you spot these clusters, you’re effectively doubling or tripling your bullet efficiency. Always prioritize overlap opportunities.
Abandon Fish That Won’t Die
Keep mental notes on how many shots different fish types normally need. If you’ve fired 5 bullets at a fish that usually dies in 3, something’s wrong. That particular target has high health, and continuing is just throwing credits away. Cut your losses and move to the next target.
Testing and Improving Your Strategy
To do this effectively, you have to track your capture. Write down what type of fish you targeted (small, medium, large), how many bullets it took, and whether you actually captured it.
After 50 attempts, calculate your success rate and average profit per attempt for each category. You will find out that the strategies in this resource work.
Once you’re consistently profitable in practice mode, you can log on to Vegas 7 deposit online for seamless deposit and to start playing for real rewards.
Practice Makes Profit
Use free credit sessions to experiment with different approaches. Test various cannon powers, try targeting different fish sizes. Note which power-ups actually increase your net winnings versus just creating memorable moments.
Every player has slightly different accuracy patterns and risk tolerance. Your optimal strategy might lean even harder into small fish, or you might discover a medium-value target you can capture with unusual efficiency.
Final thoughts
The players who consistently win at fish tables aren’t the flashy ones using bombs every 30 seconds. They’re not the ones always hunting golden dragons. They’re the players who understand bullet economics, target the right fish for their bet size, and protect their bankroll through simple discipline.
Master these fundamentals, and you’ll outlast the majority of fish table players while steadily building your balance instead of watching it disappear.
Putting It All Together
The players who consistently win at fish tables aren’t the flashy ones using bombs every 30 seconds. They’re not the ones always hunting golden dragons. They’re the players who understand bullet economics, target the right fish for their bet size, and protect their bankroll through simple discipline.
Even if you master every technique in this guide, you’ll still go broke if you don’t manage your credits properly. Set two numbers before every session: a win goal and a loss limit. When you hit either number, you stop.
Master these fundamentals, and you’ll outlast the majority of fish table players while steadily building your balance instead of watching it disappear.
