Need small ball tips

I am trying to learn how to play effective small ball, and im having some trouble. Mainly for ring games so I can control pot size and minimize my losses, but i dont know if its because im still learning how to use this effectively or im just not playing it the way it's supposed to be played but i was way better playing lag. Tips please...

Subscribe to poker vt and learn from the master of small ball......DN himself.

Think we're probably going to need some more detail to be much help - what specifically are the problems you're having?

Maybe post a few hands in the hand analysis section for people to discuss and take it from there.

Small balling is a complicated strategy. Usually innefective against weak players or at small stakes, for example, micro stakes. A super tight player can use small bets instead of big bets in a simple fashion, being that the player small balling is saying "If I have the hand here im going to bet regardless of the amount". When your in situations opposing these factors, playing bigger bets is neccessary and dangerous if you land yourself in a tricky situation. Though if you have been small balling away with the same players and then suddenly go insane for a few hands the effect can be devasting, especially if your oppenents are aggressive and have a good hand.

My main problem is the lag's that make a huge raise over the top or shove on me, then i am left stuck with a hand that all i can beat is a bluff or a phsycho with low pair or mid pocket pair. An example would be that i have JT suited and the flop is 7 6 J, i bet about 2.5 X the bb and someone shoves. My way of thinking is either im outkicked or someone hit a set and i cant put all my chips in a hand even if i know my opponent is a phsycho. I might just give small ball up.

YouTube - Daniel Negreanu's Small Ball Strategy

A helpful tip for more agressive small ball by Daniel Negreanu.

thankyou ^. Very good video.

I hear so many microstakes tournament players that want to know about small ball strategy. And honestly, I couldn't think anything was less important to learn at a microstakes level.

Small ball strategy is designed to increase your edge by allowing yourself to play more poker on the turn & river. Generally, in a tournament (small ball is pointless for ring games), your stack is between 20-70 big blinds. If you're making potsized bets on the flop & turn, its pretty unusual that any player has money left on the river. Small ball strategy decreases the size of your bets, and includes more checking behind to give you enough money in your stack to play the river.

Why would a pro want to do this? Most tournament players are good at preflop & flop poker, however they aren't familiar with playing deepstacked on the turn & river. By keeping pots smaller, pro's like Daniel Negreanu can can use an advantage on the later streets.

Why does this suck for the average microstakes player?

1) Higher buy in tournaments usually have better structures, so you're more likely to play deepstacked. Low buy in tourneys are often essentially turbos, putting you in places where your stack doesn't have enough blinds in it to play postflop.

2) The average microstakes tourney player sucks preflop. Why try and exert an edge on the turn & river, when they're vomiting forth an edge to you preflop & on the flop?

3) Postflop play isn't easy. If you're a low stakes tourney player, your postflop game probably blows. So by keeping pots small & playing with more money behind on the turn & river, you're probably putting yourself at a disadvantage.

So yeah. Stop caring about small ball just because you heard Daniel Negreanu uses that strategy. Its not useful for a microstakes tourney player. Learn about M levels, using solid push/fold strategy, and incorporate some squeezing & restealing into your game. Those tools will serve you far better in your standard microstakes freeze out tournament.

small ball isnt a good strategy if your a noob its very hard and you get sucked out a lot by using it i would stick to a tight aggressive strategy

For anyone who is an advocate of the Daniel Negreanu Small Ball Strategy, enjoy:
How to play against a reraise in small ball poker
by Daniel Negreanu | Special to The Grand Rapids Press
Tuesday February 10, 2009, 9:00 AM
If you're playing small ball poker, you'll be entering a lot of pots, and in most of them, you'll be coming in for a 2 1/2 times the big blind raise.
There will be situations where you'll get reraised, either by a premium hand or by another player who just gets fed up with the fact that you won't stop raising his blind.
As a general rule, when you get reraised, it's best to dump your hand right there. But there are times when it is entirely appropriate to stick around to see the flop.
You must consider the strength of your own hand. Obviously, if you have a premium hand like pocket aces or kings, not only would you want to play against a reraise, you usually will want to reraise before the flop.
It also makes sense to stick around in the face of a minimum reraise.
Suppose the blinds are 100/200, you make it 500 to go, and an opponent reraises to 800. There simply is no circumstance where it would be correct to fold in this situation -- even if you were certain that your opponent had pocket aces! Call the minimum reraise and try to outflop him.
Some players refer to the minimum raise as the nuisance raise. The truth is, it accomplishes very little except to add a little more money to the pot. It's extremely rare to see the initial raiser fold for the minimum reraise before the flop.
You also can stick around to see the flop if you have position.
Position is power. So, if the reraiser has position on you, use discretion when deciding to call his reraise unless you have a very strong hand. However, if the player who reraised is out of position, your marginal hand suddenly can become worthy of a call.
Let's say you are on a semi-steal with 8h-10h. With the blinds at 100/200, you raise to 500. If the big blind raises another 1,000, there's a decent opportunity to see the flop because you have position. Reverse the positions, however, and it's difficult to justify calling his raise.
Aside from hand strength, stack size is the most important factor to consider when deciding to play against a reraise. Remember that a bust'em hand like 7h-8h plays much better against a reraise in deep-stack poker than it does when stacks are smaller.
OK, say it's early in a tournament. You raise to 150 on the button with 7h-8h, leaving you with 9,850 in chips. The small blind then reraises to a total of 500.
Not only do you have position, you also have the type of hand that could hit a home run if you get lucky on the flop. Go ahead and call with this hand, hoping to win the pot by hitting the flop or bluffing your opponent by using board cards that may scare him away.
Generally speaking, though, you don't want to jeopardize more than 10 percent of your chip stack on a hand like middle suited connectors or middle pairs.
Let's recap: In small ball poker, you must get involved in a lot of pots. In many of those pots, you'll get reraised. Make sure to maintain your composure when that happens. Don't get away from your strategy by making sloppy calls.
If you have trouble laying down hands like Q-J, K-10 or K-Q in response to a pre-flop reraise, it just might be time to get up from the table and take a walk. These hands perform horribly against a reraise before the flop. Avoid them like the plague.

always3outin said:

small ball isnt a good strategy if your a noob its very hard and you get sucked out a lot by using it i would stick to a tight aggressive strategy

Click to expand...

I'm no smallball master, but if you're getting sucked out on alot, then you're probably not following smallball. Alot of smallball is making good reads and knowing when to fold, Of course everyone gets trapped sometimes, but with smallball, its always stressed, if you're getting to much resistance, get out.

Small ball

I am agree with most of the posts in here. Small ball is generally not a helpful strategy when playing in micro stakes tournaments. Unless there is a decent sized buy in it just doesn't make sense. Not to mention, the original post is dealing with typical micro stakes style players; over the top all in simply with a pair and so-so kicker is just poor play and these types of players miss the whole point of your small ball strategy. They typically don't understand "caution" when it comes to playing poker.... which is why they are micro stakes players.

ok no offense, but 99% of the people who talk about small ball and talk about needing help in a general way like this don't understand small ball at all. Instead they hear the term, and use it as an excuse to call a lot oop, and in general just play an extremely weak/tight game.

And as mentioned why would you want to play small ball at the micros? The biggest mistake your opponent will make is calling too much. Therefore you want to punish him by forcing him to make as many mistakes as possible. And how do you make him call too much? By betting into him. A lot. For full stacks a lot of the time.

It also depends how high the stakes are in your ring games. You will have a much easier time reading opponents in lower stakes, as opposed to higher stakes. However, the lower stakes would be a better time to practice your small ball strategy.

The plays that Daniel showed in the video would most likely not work in small stakes cash games, but are intended for larger stakes, and a more developed knowledge of small ball.

you tube

search u-tube. Daniel N. and Small Ball Tutorial

I dont know what Daniel Negranu teaches, but I do know that betting smaller and having a good table rep can save alot of hassle. Most players wont call unless they are looking to win the hand. Some will bluff, not often with a re-raise or any aggresive move, just a bet OOP. I dont mind a few small bluffs thrown at me because i'll only raise where I can steal the hand and if I cant there is no point continuing.

Just keep betting small and put the ocassional min raise in.
If you know there are idiots at the table be very careful and decide before you play if you need to bet more by watching them. The last thing you want is to go in betting different amounts at different people.