Daniel Negreanu coined the term “small ball” as a style of poker strategy which involves playing a wider variety of starting hands aggressively while only betting small and raising minimally to save chips when the play does not work out. This strategy will allow you to increase your winnings while keeping the risks low.
Here is a good video about small balling:
Small ball style of poker can actually be effective because you will project a loose, crazy table image, your opponents will most likely engage your hand, and you can take advantage of the situation when you have strong cards.
Your opponents will not give you credit for a good hand and call on your cards every time even when they have mediocre hands. Make them sorry for their mistakes.
It is very important to do small bets and small raises, and maintain a loose image on the poker table. Take note that your opponents should be aware that you are playing loosely for your style to work.
If you are new to poker, it is not advisable to use this poker technique. It might not be that profitable for beginners. Experienced players can make good use of suited cards and connecting cards which have some good potential when the flop is drawn.
Small ball poker style is also most effective in the early parts of poker tournaments and in poker cash games.
I really do wonder if Phil Hellmuth takes himself serious when he’s making silly videos like this for iAmplify. He’s even wearing his sunglasses, like what the hell dude? Phil, really? Are you serious? You need some money? I can loan you some if you need it… Seriously. 10% Juice!
In any other state, playing passively when you already have a strong hand is extremely risky. In a Way Ahead/Way Behind State, though, there’s no other way to play your cards. When does a WA/WB happen? You can only encounter this when you’re playing Pot Limit Texas Hold’em. In a nutshell, the happens when you’re either way ahead of the other players or maybe you’re way behind them in terms of what hand you were dealt with.
That might have confused you a little, and it’s not really very surprising that it did. Assessing a WA/WB state is difficult. The only way you can do this is try to guess what the other player’s hands are based on the cards that are already on the board.
For WA/WB states, you should watch out for two or more cards thrown on board which would indicate that your opponent is about to flush or flush draw. You should also watch out for cards that are connecting, or those that can give your opponent away on an intended straight or straight draw.
In any case, a WA/WB state gives you very small chance of winning or losing. It all depends on how well you can control yourself while you’re playing the game. Should you play too aggressively with a WA/WB hand, you can either end up digging your own grave, or worse, scaring your opponent away from the hand.
Laurens De Smet, Belgium’s most up-and-coming tournament and cash game poker player is recognized by the whole poker world as a true genius. He’s been doing extremely well for himself over the last couple years, and we expect him soon on the big stage final tabling a WSOP event…
What a great hand to show as the start of this blog. Jennifer Harman taking her Pocket Aces into Phil Ivey’s Pocket Jacks and Howard Lederer‘s somewhat ridiculous Ace Eight off suit. Excellent fold by Phil on the end, he got 3-to-1 on that call…
