Playing Small Ball Poker

Rather than being a strategy, small ball poker is more of an overall tournament game plan used by certain players. Small ball poker is a style of play where the poker player plays a wider variety of hands for a cheaper price. When the player opens for a raise with blinds of 50-100, instead of raising to 300 as most players do, small ball players will open up to somewhere between 200-250. As well, their re-raises and continuation bets will be a smaller percentage of the pot on all betting streets. This style of play can be beneficial as a player who uses small ball will not lose many chips when he loses a hand. Conversely, since the small ball player will be playing such a wide variety of hands, the player is more likely to get called down by inferior hands due to his table image.

While using small ball poker strategy, a player will be playing a wide variety of hands in position. The players will be playing hands such as 64s, 22, AT, 98s, AA and KQ and all similar hands. The key is to play many hands of all different strengths in the same exact way. Since many different hands are going to be played, the table image of the player using small ball is going to be that of a LAG player. Opponents therefore will give you less credit for a big hand and be more willing to call you down and pay off big hands. Since with small ball the key is to see many flops in position, any player using this method of play must be a talented post flop player. Playing cash games is a great way to practice post flop play.

The betting of small ball is what makes this style able to utilize so many different hands, and it all starts pre-flop. Look at how the numbers at up:

Blinds 50-100 using normal raises

• Normal raise to 300 called by 1 player – Pot now 750
• C-bet of 500, called – Pot now 1750
• Turn bet of 1200, called – pot 4150
• River bet of 2500, called – TOTAL POT 9150

Blinds 50-100 using Small Ball

• Raise to 225 called by 1 player – Pot now 600
• C-bet of 250, called – Pot now 1100
• Turn bet of 450, called – Pot now 2000
• River bet of 800, called – TOTAL POT, 3600

As we can see, the total pot while using small ball was less than 50% of the total pot when using normal raises and bets. If played well, it can be a very effective game plan.

Related posts:

1. Get Paid Off on Big Hands – The Value Bet Concept
2. A Few Advanced Poker Plays
3. M-Ratio Tournament Strategy