Small Ball Poker Definition
These hands are ideal for the small ball approach. Remember, the goal of small ball is to make straights and flushes against top-pair hands. Suited connectors deliver this potential, plus the opportunity to make two pair and trips. The key to the success of small ball poker, and in particular, suited connectors, is that your opponents won’t. Maybe small-ball needs a little definition. In my small-ball world, I play small ball to manage the pot and only allow myself to play big-ball when i have a seriously high equity hand (93% or better).
An increasingly popular approach and style of playing poker that was popularized by guys like Daniel Negreanu, is small ball poker. The idea behind the style is to play lots of hands more aggressively especially from late position and attempt to outplay your opponent post-flop to accumulate chips with little or no risk of going bust. Obviously is an integral part of true “small ball” poker.
A lot of people are not familiar with the term small ball poker, but it’s getting more and more attention.Small ball poker is a style of play used in Texas Hold’em where you don’t limit yourself to premium starting hands and play a wider range of starting hands without investing too much in the pot to begin with. That is why small ball can be used as a primary strategy in standard MTT's. The problem with playing small ball is that you have to have stronger than average hand reading skills. The tendency to build the pot to the river, then be forced with betting or calling a large bet on the end can be tough. Small Ball is a poker strategy, usually applied to tournaments, which involves keeping pots small and frequently calling instead of raising, in order to avoid potentially getting eliminated. For example, if playing a small-ball strategy, you might call vs a 4-bet (instead of 5-betting) with a hand like AK, in order to avoid an all-in coin-flip.
Daniel Negreanu gives advanced tips on using the small ball strategy in the video below.
Small Ball Poker Definition Table
Related terms on PokerDictionary.net
How Daniel Negreanu plays small ball poker
Poker Pro Daniel Negreanu aka Kid Poker; is a four time WSOP bracelet winner and has won 2 WPT poker championships. Daniel is from Toronto Canada and a big fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL hockey team. His successful style of play is called small ball. He uses the strategy in cash games and tournaments to turn normally unprofitable hands into profitable ones. He seems like he plays like a maniac - but he's not, there a solid mathematical basis to the way he plays. In the following 3 advanced poker strategy videos, Daniel takes an amateur player and teaches him small ball to advance his game and help him go pro. Follow along and gain valuable strategy tips that have been built on years of real life experience. Daniel teaches small ball poker strategy at www.pokervt.com
Small Ball Poker
Daniel takes an amateur poker player and teaches him strategy and tips on how to improve his game. Small ball poker strategy is risking less to win more.
Post Flop Play is key to small ball
Stealing Blinds - Risk fewer chips to steal your opponents blinds 2.5 - 3 X big blinds from late position.
Don't Steal with trash - Play hands that make monsters if the flop connects to them.
Playing Position - Steal pots by using position. Bet 1/2 -3/4 of the pot when your opponent checks. Position and aggression will win you lots of small Pots.
Pot Odds / Traps / Phantom Poker / Defending Blinds
Learn about pot odds and implied odds small ball style - Consider that you can win all of your opponents chips
Avoid traps by betting small.
Set traps with your apparent maniac style and consistent betting.
Phantom Poker - How to bet with nothing and steal the pot on the turn.
Defend your Blinds - Why its important and how to make your opponents think twice about stealing your blinds.
Tips for Turning Pro
Daniel Negreanu and Erik Lindgren commentate on how amateur player Cole is doing putting his new small ball skills to work in a real game.
Semi Bluffs - Take Your opponent off of a better hand
Daniel Negreanu - Power Hold'em Strategy
Daniel has written a great Book on Small Ball with tons of detailed explanations and strategy tips. Read his book to improve your game even more. Daniel plays poker online at PokerStars - the worlds largest online poker site. Daniel also has a virtual training poker site - Poker VT where there is arguably the best virtual poker training online for small ball poker strategy.
Small Ball - Daniel Negreanu |
Advanced Strategies - Gus Hansen |
Poker Tells - Mike Caro |
Short Stacked Strategy - Hellmuth |
How To Slowplay - Pros |
The Gap Concept - Phil Gordon |
How To Bluff - Pros |
Common Poker Mistakes - Pros |
Small Ball Poker Definition
#1 Online Poker Site For Playing Small ball Poker
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