What can you tell me about small ball?

[gotmarc]

In HOH2 there's a breif chapter about small ball poker vs what he calls long ball poker. I've also read smallball mentioned in one of Daniel Negreanu's books. I understand these terms are baseball analogies, but I one of those guys who doesn't get the Barry Bonds controversy, nor do I care.

Long Ball's pretty obvious, but can you guys give me some specific examples of small ball poker. Thanks

[Nairb]

I interpret small ball as being playing in such a way that you win lots of small pots instead of waiting for that huge pot with the nuts.

It is like Daniel Negraneau, playing lots of hands and at times bluffing your opponent off their hand, or hitting your hand and extracting maximum value.

[DQuadfather]

It refers to a strategy in which you risk little to win pots more frequently. The "small" part refers to exercising pot control and keeping pots small. Typically, these wins will be smaller pots, but, by being more involved in hands, you'll also be more likely to hit hard, trade off on your loose image, and reel in a big pot.

For the most part, this consists of raising 2.5 or 3 x BB in LP to set up your control of the hand with a c-bet in hopes of taking the pot right there. Hopefully what happens is that even after this play begins to appear standard you hit hard, show the table, and are able to keep putting presure on the table by using the same strategy.

If you're that curious, enter something like Daniel Negraneau Small Ball on YouTube and you'll find a 3 or 4 part series on this. (Sorry, I'm blocked here at worked).

[evagaba]

Daniel Negraneau Small Ball videos are nothing more than cbeting/prob betting.

[Gorvacofin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJVLZHh1Fo

[JH1]

Small ball is all about c-betting to steal lots of small pots and keeping pot control. But you will win big pots as well as a result.

The main thing is to play your made hands the same as your c-bets. It doesn't take long for people to realize that you're stealing every other pot and when they make a big stand you just give up without risking much. The big pots come when they make a big stand against another of your 1/2 to 3/4 pot size flop "bluffs" when you have a made hand.

It's got a lot to do with being able to read the board and tell what the probabilities are that it hit your opponent.

[Greg Miller]

[ QUOTE ]
In HOH2 there's a breif chapter about small ball poker vs what he calls long ball poker. I've also read smallball mentioned in one of Daniel Negreanu's books. I understand these terms are baseball analogies, but I one of those guys who doesn't get the Barry Bonds controversy, nor do I care.

Long Ball's pretty obvious, but can you guys give me some specific examples of small ball poker. Thanks

[/ QUOTE ]

The theory is that complex play favors the better player, and simple play favors the less-skilled player.

So long ball simplifies the play of a hand using large bets, while small-ball makes use of smaller bets and more plays per hand, increasing complexity. Small-ball tends to get the job done post-flop, while long ball players frequently attempt to get the key decisions made before the flop.

That's why the pros hate hearing "all-in" over and over in tournaments. See "Kill Phil" for a pretty detailed analysis of the theory and basic strategies for neutralizing an opponent's skill advantage.