Are you a big pot or small pot player?

I have a friend who is good at poker. When he pays cash(4NL and 10NL, like me), he picks up several samll pots, and before long his BB/100 gets to looking pretty respectable. He is good at bluffing, reading people and figriung out the kind of betsize that may get someone off a hand. I have a lot of respect for this guy, but I play differently. When I play cash I generally make most of my winnngs from two or three key pots from patient play or a reasonable grasp of odds.
Overall, we are beating the same games by scarily similar BB/100 figures, so clearly there is something to be said for both ways.
I have two questions on this point:

1. I cannot play the same way forever, unless the only people I want to beat are donks. I need to add variation to my game so that I can become more tricky and less readable. Do you have any advice on the best ways to learn how to mix up your game?

2. What kind of style works better for you?

I play a big pot strategy as well. Table selection is key. Play with a full bankroll and find the loosest tables (high flop percentages). I like to play the deep tables of FT because the stacks are higher and you get paid off better. I don't like staying on one table longer than an hour, especially if they notice I am holding out for big hands.

I don't play cash games, but in tournaments I find that it is not enough to take down just the big pots, you need to take out some of the smaller pots too. Otherwise eventually you are likely to be blinded out.

Yeah. That's kind of why I don't play as many tournaments. In the beginning I liked the value that they offered and I did ok at them. However, I disliked the blind structures. Except for deepstack games where I get between 5000 and 10000 chips, I don't play them much. I love the deepstacks- it's like a little bit of suck-out insurance.

I find that I am a big pot player with a small pot mentality. I don't like getting my whole stack in, but when I do, I seem to win.

For me it completely depends on the table and the night, how I am feeling. The more aggressive I feel, the more pots I like to steal, thereby making that more of a small-pot kind of night. If I am feeling off or distracted, then I lay back a little bit and play more conservative, or big-pot.

I like small-pot better just because you aren't screwed if you lose those big pots that you thought were monster hands.

I will stab at a small pot if I feel I have an opportunity. However, my main strategy involves building to big pots. If I have a good hand, and I know I will get callers/raisers regardless, I will put as many chips into the pot as makes sense. Seeing I am broke now, perhaps I should tweak it a bit.

The better the players you play against are, the more small pots you have to fight for. Also if you fight for small pots it creates an aggressive image where people may pay you off in the big pots as well.

Personally I am kind of both.

I decide what kind of pot I am playing for (big or small) preflop and then reassess on the flop.

I read Professional No Limit hold em and some of the ideas of stack to pot ratio made quite a bit of sense to me.

Well, its more or less up to you on the pot size. Bigger pots would tend to pay out more? right?

i agree with what zachvac said 100%. i am more of a small ball player looking to steadily increase my stack. if the opportunity comes i love getting it all in with the nuts or close to it. i try to never risk on a draw, always a better time to get your chips in. we shouldn't be trying to get rich quick we should be trying to build our bankroll steadily.

The best advice for the first question would be to try new styles
yourself. You have to expirience new forms of playing in order to know
how they function and to be able to apply them to the table. Go look
at some games and how the players play first and try imitating that on
your own table in similar circumstances.
Now what style works for me? I have a lot of styles and when applied
correctly they all work for me... thats all you need to know to get
by bro.

I like to play small pots personally, but I won't shy away from the big ones. Usually when I get into a big pot I've got a good hand or a real good draw though. In order to mix up your game you just have to read about how others play hands and try to pick up on the finer points that you would be able to implement into your style. Trying new things to find what works and what doesn't and mixing up your game thats what I suggest.

small hand, small pot

big hand, big pot


fight for the small ones aggressively but don't get in over your head with a bad/mediocre holding.

being aggressive in the small pots helps your image and makes it easier to get paid when you do hit something big and want a big pot

at first i thought dorkus malorkus made this thread and i was like wtf

choose what style you want to play before you play it. i try different styles of play and try to practice ones i'm not comfortable with. but i think the most important thing is to be able to adjust to the table. it really makes no sence to play the way everyone else is. but if you make it a point to play a certain style till you get good at it when you need to play that way you will know how.

^ yeah i did too

Ok, since were on pot sizes.. Is it me or are the pots in .05/.10 10nl smaller then the pots in .01/.02 2nl.?

If you're more comfortable playing either big-pot or small-pot poker, then it's probably best to tend in that direction. However, it shouldn't be automatic to play one way all the time. Ideally, you should adjust in the direction that's better against your opponents on a hand by hand basis.

Hi.

I think you can mix up your game playing more aggresive, but not crazy, right?
I'm a tight player and play similar like you, and i think that the question you must ask yourself is "how many time you must take to win some money?".
If you're in a hurry, then play aggresive or like your friend, but if you're no in a hurry, then play like you do now.

Bye.
manalva