Small Ball Poker Daniel Negreanu

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Small Ball Poker Daniel Negreanu

Daniel Negreanu has always been my favorite poker player. Kid Poker just has the right attitude about everything as well as the skill. I've been aware of his small ball poker theory for a while now and I kind of have a feeling of what it was after seeing a few videos, but I never really truly grasped the concept due to lack of information mostly. Now I have his book 'Power Hold'em Strategy' and about 200 pages of information on the small ball poker strategy. After already reading 5 other sections of the book, this is the part I've been waiting for. Let's get started.
Small Ball Poker Daniel Negreanu
Small Ball Poker Daniel Negreanu
Starting Hands and Preflop Plays
The term 'Small Ball' was popularised by professional poker player Daniel Negreanu. What exactly does it mean? More importantly, can it be used to increase our earnings at the poker tables? Small Ball poker is characterised by the following -Playing lots of hands preflop - Using small bet-sizings postflop - Looking to steal a lot of pots. Information on danielnegreanu.com is intended for poker news and poker entertainment purposes only. Daniel Negreanu encourages you to play poker responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please visit NCPG or call 1-800-522-4700 (US Toll Free) for assistance.

Daniel Negreanu on Poker: Starting Hands in Small Ball Poker – Part I February 5, 2009 4:15 PM by Jody Fellows The world's most successful tournament competitors, like me, Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren, Phil Hellmuth and countless others, like to play small ball poker. The Small ball poker strategy is often credited to poker pro Daniel Negreanu and can be affectively used in the early stages of No Limit Texas Holdem tournaments. The Small ball poker strategy is a two point strategy where a player does the following: 1. Playing too many pots thus projecting a loose image. 26 videos Play all Daniel Negreanu Small Ball Poker xtreampkr; Daniel Negreanu vs ElkY - Showmatch - World Championship 2015 BlizzCon - Duration: 56:36. HearthVoDs 69,991 views.
Big pairs
AA, KK, QQ, JJ
Aces and Kings are something you can just go all in with before the flop if that decision comes up. Folding Kings before the flop is not a winning play for the most part.
QQ and JJ are more difficult to play. Avoid big pots and no reraise preflop with these (unless semi-making a move). set up image for yourself if it gets to showdown.
Middle Pairs
10's, 9's, 8's, 7's
don't over value them, they are not premium hands. you are looking to flop a set
first one into the pot then make a standard raise but do not reraise
muck it if too much action start to appear
Small Pairs
6's, 5's, 4's, 3's, 2's
similar with middle pair, looking to flop a set mostly. don't reraise pre flop
AK and AQ
not something you want to move all in with before the flop as you will be dominated with AA and KK (QQ as well for AQ) while coinfliping with any other pair.
AK is something that should be raised preflop but it doesn't play that well after the flop. In a board of A-9-6, AK should fire a continuation bet but if a caller picks up, then he can easily have aces up or a set. AK really is only good against other Ace-something, but you never know if they hit 2 pairs. AK-unsuited is something that wins smaller pots and potentially lose big ones.
AQ is just like AK but much much worse. you have the same worries as you would with AK plus another player holding AK.
Aces and Paints
AJ, A10, KQ, KJ, K10, QJ, Q10, J10
much better if suited
dominated by most premium hands
raise an unraised pot and look to win a small pot
fold if there are actions, especially if unsuited.
calling with suited KQ or QJ preflop is ok. if flopping top pair, look to play a small pot and a big pot if straight/flush occurs.
Ace Rag Suited

only value is flush potential
attack the blinds if the first one in but do not call any reraise
much better in late position so you can control the pot size and earn free cards.
King Rag and Queen Rag suited
do not raise with these for the most part
you can limp in if the pot is multiway already
can often be second-best hand.
Suited Connectors
ideal for the small ball approach
easy to trap big hands with if you flop well
easy to fold with as well if you miss
set up your image which can be exploited later on dangerous boards.
Trash
hands with no real value
play the situation, not the cards
only use to steal blinds when the situation is right as they are easy to be released.
Preflop raise should be 2 to 2.5 times the big blind. However, bet size can vary based on your opponent, but never on the kind of hand you are playing. Raise tough players who defend blinds 4-5 times the big blind. This bet also helps you to define the tough opponent's hand into a narrower range. The biggest benefit of playing this aggressive betting style is that you'll get more action on stronger hands. It will confuse players so they won't see the difference between raising and reraising. Raise a reraise requires you to have the goods for the most part.
Calling instead of reraising a pre-flop raise is also valid as it disguises the strength of your hand. Sometimes, calling maybe be perceived as a sign of weakness and you can take advantage of that. All in all, the point is to see a flop cheaply for a small ball poker player as you can outplay your opponent after the flop. But of course, you can mix it up with dead money grab moves which are focusing on winning chips pre-flop rather than post flop. the focus is the chips that are already in the center.
Pound the limpers that are in position. When you are robbing the limpers, the most important limper to focus on is the first limper. If the original limper is someone who you are reading as weak or likes to play marginal hands, then a large reraise in the blind position can secure the pot. This will work as long as the original limper didn't limp in with a premium hand and no limpers are short stacked. However, avoid commting too high a percentage of your stack . Do realize that when you wake up with a hand, you can fire away everytime.
Coming over the top with a preflop reraise once in a while is a decent move. It's something you want to do when you have a nice stack and your opponent is not short stacked. Also, don't price an opponent into the pot by making the raise too small. Sometimes, you can pick one guy and keep reraising him specifically and you may well wake up with a hand to bury him. How much you reraise also depend on the player, pay close attention to who's calling preflop reraises (and with what sort of hands). Raise more against these suckers. By raising 4-5 times their raise, the move has a higher success rate and also define the other guy's hand if he calls or reraise you back.
When playing small ball poker, you often enter the pot 2-2.5 times the BB and often you will get reraised pre-flop. Most of the time, you should fold when someone reraises pre-flop. However, you should reraise if your hand is premium (AA/KK mostly here) or call if you have position or if the raise is minimum. Stack size is also very important has if you commit too high % of your stack, you are priced in and wont have any plays left.
Later on in the tournament, a lot of players get desperate as blinds go high and a lot of hands are simply decided preflop with people going All In rather than anything else. Opponent's hand range is very important here and their range generally broadens as their stack get smaller and smaller. Of course, pot odd also plays a role here.
When your stack is small, you simply have to shove all in with a wide range of hands. However if still you have more than 10 BB's, you can try limping and try to flop big. people may be scared that you limped because you have AA or KK and did not want to scare actions away. When it gets below 10 BB's, just shove away with anything that's not likely to be dominated.
Magic 81 free slots. Flop Play
Aside from making moves, preflop play is mostly systematic and it depends on the blinds and your hole cards. However, the whole point of small ball poker is to outplay others after the first street. The whole point of the smaller 2-2.5 BB pre-flop raise is to get others to play with when they are on a marginal hand and out of position.
After the flop, the big blind will most likely check to you. This is a good time to fire a continuation bet that's 50-80% of the pot. Keep your C-Bet size and frequency consistent. Most of the time, C-Bet is a profitable move. If the big blind check raises you then just fold your hand, even if you highly suspect he is bluffing. If you C-bet enough, the other players will likely to reraise you more often with air and when you catches a hand, they are stuck. over the long run, this is a profitable play. The goal is to chop away smaller pots looking to minimize damage until the right hand comes. The general rule is the majority of your bluffing/semi-bluffing will be done in small pots while having the best hands during big pots. Position if of course very important in post-flop play. You should have position is most of your hands.
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Flopping a drawing hand is a situation where you may want to avoid C-betting, especially in multi-way pots. It is a really bad play in no-limit Hold'em to bet yourself off of a drawing hand. What I mean is, c-betting into a tight opponent with a drawing hand and end up getting check-raised off the hand. However, it is important to avoid checking drawing hands every time as players will pick up on this. If the draw is good and the pot isn't too big relative to stack sizes, I will still fire a 50% pot c-bet. A monster draw is often something you want to get fairly aggressive with. However, betting out of position is still dangerous with a drawing hand.
Marginal hands are very difficult to play and it is often correct to play them safely or passively. The best example of a marginal hand is you raising preflop with QQ or JJ and the flop has an ace. Avoid playing big pot in this situation. By checking the flop down, you are not exactly giving your opponent a high chance of outdrawing you with a hand like QQ. Betting doesn't always give you the information you need and it is rarely better than checking in a marginal situation, except checking is free. If you check to your opponent when you are out of position and calls a smallish bet (unless opponent is very tight), then he may shut down with anything except a high kicker ace unless he hits a drawing hand. check-calling out of position on the flop is very deceptive. If you dont' bet, you cannot be raised off the hand. In fact, checking the flop out of position should be standard. It is important to know which player like to represent an ace on the flop but shuts down on the turn if he gets called.
Position is power. When we have position, we must use it. But when we do not have it, we must respect it. – Daniel Negreanu
Position is of course the most important thing you have. When you are in position, things are much easier. if your opponent leads out at the flop and your hand is marginal (like second pair), then calling is usually the correct move and see what happens on the turn, unless the bet is too big. More often than not, your opponent will check the turn regardless of what he has though. This is where you need to narrow down the range of hands he likes to play out of position/in blinds. If you cannot, then check/calling on the flop is the correct play since it would be difficult to take your opponent off the hand anyways if he hits the flop. Generally, proceed very cautiously with second pairs. Even if you hit 2 pairs on the river, your opponent can hit a straight/flush with the same card. Avoid playing big pots unless you really have a monster hand. Folding is usually the correct move with marginal situations that are not likely to improve. The goal of small ball is to look for high percentage chances to play big pots and avoid playing big pots that require guesswork. You will get bluffed from time to time but that is okay. Keeping composure is very important for small ball poker as you want to avoid marginal pots.
People don't bluff nearly as much as you think they do. Pros win because they play big pots with the best hand, not because they use super-advanced bluffs. Pros win because they depend on the fact that you don't believe them.
The key reason you check the flop with marginal hand is that a bet likely won't change the outcome of who wins the hand. If you have top pair then you should bet to protect your hand and find out about your opponent's hand. Almost nobody will check-raise you out of position with a not so dangerous board. Sometimes you will get bluffed but that's also ok.
In Summry you should bet the flop if

Small Ball Poker Daniel Negreanuwhen you have position but missed the flop. Bet if the board is not that great, unless there are two or more cards above 8 like J-9-7 or A-Q-9
bet when your hand is good but need protection like top pair with solid kicker
bet monster drawing hands
bet if you pick up a tell or if opponent is very weak and passive.
otherwise, check the flop with
drawing hands and you want to see more cards cheaply
check flop that pose little danger of outdrawing your hand. If you have AA and the flop is 2-2-9 then the risk of checking is minimal and you won't get called by much anyways unless he has a 2 or a 9.
If you have a marginal hand on a dangerous board then just check the flop and see what happens on the turn.
when you suspect an opponent caught a big piece of the flop.
Flops like K-K-4 or A-6-6 are hit or miss flops. If you started with the best hand then it will remain the best hand after flops like this high percentage of the time. Other players will either miss completely or hit it big. Play marginal hands very cautiously after these flops to minimize losses.
Manipulating pot size is also very important for small ball poker. Checking the flop is one way to keep the pot small. Raise the flop if you hit it well but also do it from time to time with a bluff if you feel the opponent is weak. Slowplaying a set or 2 pair on a dangerous board is also pointless since either your opponent will outdraw you or a scare card comes and kill the action from your opponent holding big pairs. Raising the flop with a good hand (top pair/2 pair) or even monsters can be a good play as smooth calling shows a lot of strength anyways. A danger card might come and kill the action for your opponent or both of you. More importantly, if you flopped big on a somewhat dangerous board and just calls a bet, even A-A will likely to check the turn. It's much better to raise here and make it look like a bluff, which is also why you should do it with air sometimes to mix it up
Another layer of play is to check a big hand on the flop so the other guys can catch up. This is done best when your hand is good already but very likely to improve such as top air and flush/straight draw. In this case, the flop is absolutely great flop and checking may seem weak to you so your opponent put you on a draw, which you are but your hand is already great. If you are on a nut flush draw and the other dude is on the same draw then it's bad news for him. Usually, checking the flop is to allow people with marginal hands to catch up a little bit when you are way ahead.
When you are in position against your opponent, your hand is not important. It all comes down to the strength of your opponent's hand. This is especially true if your hand could improve by a lot on the turn. In any case, smooth calling on a board with A 9 2 might mean you have AQ AJ A10 etc. If your opponent fires again on the turn and your hand does not dramatically improve then lay it down. If he fired with air on the flop then he will most likely shut down on the turn. Bet about 50% pot here and you should take it down. You may get check-raised on the turn but by keeping your bet small, it's not a big problem, simply muck. You can also do it with a drawing hand in position by smooth calling the flop bet and bet the turn if opponent checks and you hit or don't hit your draw. This is only done in position of course.
Sometimes, it's best to smooth call or check the flop and wait on the turn card for more information. This is best when you have a marginal hand like AJ and pairs the ace on the flop. What your opponent do on the turn, as well as the texture of the 4 community cards will define his hand. Smooth calling the flop down also give you a chance to suck out as well! Raising the flop will only protect your hand when you are ahead and faster information regarding your opponent's hand. Smooth calling flop and turn cost about the same as you raise the flop and get called then check the river. Except you get to the river with the first one, the information is the same.
You are appearing to play weak poker with this sort of plays. What you give up is free cards to your opponent but you get to see his hand with this cautious play. What you gain of course is to trap an opponent with top pair into continuing to bet you. Also, by playing passively, it's less likely that you will get raised off the best hand. The main goal of small ball poker is to get involved with lots of pots but win the ones you are suppose to without taking major risks.
Small Ball Poker Daniel NegreanuTurn Play
The most difficult and important decision you'll have to make will come on the turn. You are deciding if it make sense to keep going to the end of the hand. For small ball poker, it is the most crucial street as you are getting close to a big pot territory. The majority of your stack-building during a tournament will come when you are in position. Out of position, it is hard to get max value for a winning hand, unless it is very strong. Also, it is difficult to execute bluffs.
If you have position and called the flop then a turn raise will be very profitable if the board is fairly dangerous. This is all part of your small ball image as you can hit any flop and turn. However, only make this play against an opponent who is at least somewhat conservative. The image you want to avoid is someone who just raises with pocket pairs and ace paints.
The Johnny Chan Play is a move where you check-call the flop and lead the turn betting. When you are out of position on the turn, your ability to do stuff is not so great. This move eliminates your opponent's positional advantage over you at minimal risk. If your opponent calls and you don't have at least top pair, then you can assume your hand is no good and fold to any bet on the river unless you catch something. At the same time, even if you do have the best hand on the turn with second pair, by betting the turn, you are avoiding a larger bet on the turn and having to guess whether your hand is good. This bet is a protection bet for the most part. It protects against overcards when you have the best hand and protects you from any bluffs on the river. It also controls the pot size and can even bluff your opponent off a better hand. You can also play strong hands with this play to mix it up of course. The cost is about the same as check-raising the flop but the range of cards your opponent can call with is narrower, and it defines your opponent's hand better. If you do not make this turn bet then your opponent may bet the river and you will be guessing! The only downside of this play is that you will be giving your opponent a free turn card, compared to check-rasing flop. However, you can abort the play if a scare card comes on the turn, like an ACE. This play allows you to take control of the pot size (unless he raises you).
Check-Raising the turn is a very powerful tool. You should check raise only occasionally in no limit if you are small ball player. The three reasons for this is
it makes the pot bigger
if your opponent calls, you have a difficult decision on the river out of position
a check raise you may cost you pots that you could have won if your hand was a drawing hand or he's just bluffing you.

For the most part, check-raise the turn should only be done when your hand is very strong. It is a really bad move with a drawing hand. When your opponents catch on that you will often check call out of position, they are more likely to fire a 2nd bullet on the turn. Against players like those, don't raise too much to take the play away from them. You want them to put in another raise or go all in when you have the nuts. If you go all in, you take away their chance of trying to resteal the pot as they can only call with a good hand. You can also do this move as a bluff but you need to have a good read on your opponent. If another player also calls you when you do the Johnny Chan play, then you might have to check-raise him on the turn in future bluffs. If your opponent calls your turn bluff then you are probably beaten.
When you flop a drawing hand, you should always think about ways you could win the pot if you don't happen to make your draw. You need to fake extra outs. Most importantly, if a scare card comes on the turn for your opponent, but it didn't complete your straight or flush, you need to take a jab it. You are both taking down the pot and protecting your own drawing hand, especially ones will be better than yours on the river. An example is that you have an open ended straight draw on the flop with 2 cards of the same suit. If the turn matches those 2 cards, putting a 3 card flush draw on board then you must bet it, even if it doesn't complete your hand. Even if he calls and the river is a blank, you can take another jab at it with a bigger bet, unless a 4th card of the same suit comes. Even if he calls the turn with just an overpair, which he shouldn't, you still have outs.
If you are in position and playing with a drawing hand, what you should do is pot-odds dependent. However, since there may be additional betting on the river the exact pot odds is not exact, ergo implied odds. The size of the implied pot on the river of course depends on how good your opponent's hand is or how good you think it is as well as how aggressive he is. Your turn decision will need to include a plan for the river as well, it is the most important street for small ball.
Let's see what happens if you hit your hand on the river. If your opponent checks on river when you don't have a high flush/nut straight, you can make a small bet for the most part. Either he has a hand that will fold to a large bet anyways or he's waiting to check raise you with the nuts since you are usually aggressive. In this case, if your opponent lead out with a large bet then consider folding or just call if the bet is not so big. When you do have the nuts and your opponent bets into you then it's about getting the most out of him. If you think he's bluffing then try to appear you are also bluffing with air. If you think he has a strong hand like trips then you can even move in. Sometimes a small raise is also good just to extract a bit more chips out of someone with a marginal hand.
Sometimes, you can call the turn bet with a drawing out and factor in bluffing outs that you can use to bluff the other guy off his hand on the river if it comes. This will require you to have a strong read of your opponent of course. Depending on the texture of the board, your number of outs can dramatically increase if you read your opponent for a marginal hand. Bluffs are most effective when used sporadically and in situations where it seems obvious to your opponent that you must have the best hand.
When you play deep stack poker, one pair, regardless of how big it is, is rarely ever good enough to risk going broke with after the fl0p. When playing with overpair, it is important not to get the pot too big. The main goal is to avoid traps. Most of the times, it is good to continue at least to the turn with big pairs and decide then whether or not you should continue. When you are out of position, checking the turn is usually the best play even with acess on a board that is kind of dangerous. The same goes for a hit-or-miss flop as well lilke 10-4-4. Being aggressive out of position often result in situations where you have to guess and it's not as profitable anyways. When you are in position, you can also check a dangerous board should it develop but it's much safer. The mindset with an overpair on the turn should be one of caution rather than excitement. However, the value of over pairs go up as you get deeper and deeper into the tournament.
Tournament Concepts
In Deep-Stack tournaments, it's rare that an overpair is in the lead when an all in pot is played on the turn. All you hear is about aggression these days but it's careful play in marginal situations that makes one the best.
On the turn, you need to think the hand through and figure out where you are at. Also, you should go into your subconscious and find any subconscious recognitions that will make you a better player. Sometimes, you just know.
As a small ball player, your biggest goal is to avoid big traps and losing your stacks in marginal situation. You will lose many small pots but you won't be risking your stack as often. You are also going to let people see a lot of free cards by playing this way but it's not as bad as going into a trap you can't get away from by being aggressive. Sometimes, by letting the last card hit, you can access the situation better and know for sure if you have the best hand. This way, you won't be the guy who goes all in on the flop in a 90-10 win rate situations and gets sucked out on the river. If the ace is going to come on the river anyways, at least you save your stack this time.
Some people will disagree with this concept. Surely getting your money in the middle in a 90-10 is a great spot. However, if there is an alternative play that helps you avoiding risking your whole stack then you should be making this often weaker play. During a cash game then all that matters is you make the play with the highest EV but in tournament, your EV is tired into the likelihood of going broke as well. If you know you are 60-40, going all in preflop in a tournament is just nuts. Pros say they want to avoid coinflips most of the time and it is true, because they believe they can build their stacks without risking it all at one spot. The concept you need to accept as a tournament player is that if you can consistently win small pots and increase your stack, it is a bad play to risk your whole stack on a hand even if you know you willwin more often than not.
River Play
The goal of small ball poker is to get to the river with marginal hands without investing too much chips, unless your hand is a monster of course. Your table image is someone who bluffs throughout the hand, the river is not a time to make them right. The river is when you want to extract full value for strong hands and avoid losing chips than necessary and induce bluffs from opponents who think you are weak. You should remember that your bluff bet size and value bet size should be the same. Small ball works best when most hands don't even get to the river, but when they do, a player can make a small bet and the other just may call. Your bet size should not exceed pot size. The key to figuring out the correct value bet size is figuring out the strength of your opponent's hand actually. The stronger his hand, the more you can bet. Also, you should avoid putting guys all-in while value betting, even if it's not a lot.
It is important to figure out: is your opponent more likely to call your bet or bet if you check to him? When you have a marginal to strong hand and think your opponent either has you crushed or has missed the draw, betting the river won't do you any good because you will either get raised by a better hand or folded to when he missed his draw. When you are out of position, just check away and call a bet, sometimes this can earn you a free show down. During other times, your opponent won't be betting into you anymore because you keep check calling with medium to strong hands. This is the place where you want to get where your opponents won't be making thin value bets against you. It's the best to have your opponent play cautiously against you on the river. The downside of course is that your opponents won't be value betting for you anymore, you need to start value betting for yourself. You need to make adjustments and bet your own marginal hands a little more. The goal is to minimize your loss when you are out of position.
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The goal with a defensive bet is essentially to minimize your losses in marginal situation when you are not sure if your hand is the best but you have to call your opponent's bet. The idea is to bet a smaller amount than you think your opponent would bet which will force him to raise you on the river. He will only raise you with a very strong hand and will just call other times. This works even better when the board is representing a flush or straight. The bet takes away your opponent's bluff and gets you to showdown for a cheaper price. Essentially, the defensive bet give you control of the pot size. You can also make this defensive bet to induce a bluff from someone who is aggressive.
In situations where you think your opponent missed a draw and you want to bluff at it, make the bluff on the smaller side. If you have the nuts, you can make the same bet and hope he will bluff at it. Most of the time, your river bet is dependent on your opponent. Is he a tricky player? What's his hand range? How did he play in the hand so far? Sometimes checking in a marginal situation is better than squeezing out a value bet. Lean towards checking the river especially out of position.

Daniel Negreanu on Poker: Starting Hands in Small Ball Poker – Part I February 5, 2009 4:15 PM by Jody Fellows The world's most successful tournament competitors, like me, Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren, Phil Hellmuth and countless others, like to play small ball poker. The Small ball poker strategy is often credited to poker pro Daniel Negreanu and can be affectively used in the early stages of No Limit Texas Holdem tournaments. The Small ball poker strategy is a two point strategy where a player does the following: 1. Playing too many pots thus projecting a loose image. 26 videos Play all Daniel Negreanu Small Ball Poker xtreampkr; Daniel Negreanu vs ElkY - Showmatch - World Championship 2015 BlizzCon - Duration: 56:36. HearthVoDs 69,991 views.
Big pairs
AA, KK, QQ, JJ
Aces and Kings are something you can just go all in with before the flop if that decision comes up. Folding Kings before the flop is not a winning play for the most part.
QQ and JJ are more difficult to play. Avoid big pots and no reraise preflop with these (unless semi-making a move). set up image for yourself if it gets to showdown.
Middle Pairs
10's, 9's, 8's, 7's
don't over value them, they are not premium hands. you are looking to flop a set
first one into the pot then make a standard raise but do not reraise
muck it if too much action start to appear
Small Pairs
6's, 5's, 4's, 3's, 2's
similar with middle pair, looking to flop a set mostly. don't reraise pre flop
AK and AQ
not something you want to move all in with before the flop as you will be dominated with AA and KK (QQ as well for AQ) while coinfliping with any other pair.
AK is something that should be raised preflop but it doesn't play that well after the flop. In a board of A-9-6, AK should fire a continuation bet but if a caller picks up, then he can easily have aces up or a set. AK really is only good against other Ace-something, but you never know if they hit 2 pairs. AK-unsuited is something that wins smaller pots and potentially lose big ones.
AQ is just like AK but much much worse. you have the same worries as you would with AK plus another player holding AK.
Aces and Paints
AJ, A10, KQ, KJ, K10, QJ, Q10, J10
much better if suited
dominated by most premium hands
raise an unraised pot and look to win a small pot
fold if there are actions, especially if unsuited.
calling with suited KQ or QJ preflop is ok. if flopping top pair, look to play a small pot and a big pot if straight/flush occurs.
Ace Rag Suited
only value is flush potential
attack the blinds if the first one in but do not call any reraise
much better in late position so you can control the pot size and earn free cards.
King Rag and Queen Rag suited
do not raise with these for the most part
you can limp in if the pot is multiway already
can often be second-best hand.
Suited Connectors
ideal for the small ball approach
easy to trap big hands with if you flop well
easy to fold with as well if you miss
set up your image which can be exploited later on dangerous boards.
Trash
hands with no real value
play the situation, not the cards
only use to steal blinds when the situation is right as they are easy to be released.
Preflop raise should be 2 to 2.5 times the big blind. However, bet size can vary based on your opponent, but never on the kind of hand you are playing. Raise tough players who defend blinds 4-5 times the big blind. This bet also helps you to define the tough opponent's hand into a narrower range. The biggest benefit of playing this aggressive betting style is that you'll get more action on stronger hands. It will confuse players so they won't see the difference between raising and reraising. Raise a reraise requires you to have the goods for the most part.
Calling instead of reraising a pre-flop raise is also valid as it disguises the strength of your hand. Sometimes, calling maybe be perceived as a sign of weakness and you can take advantage of that. All in all, the point is to see a flop cheaply for a small ball poker player as you can outplay your opponent after the flop. But of course, you can mix it up with dead money grab moves which are focusing on winning chips pre-flop rather than post flop. the focus is the chips that are already in the center.
Pound the limpers that are in position. When you are robbing the limpers, the most important limper to focus on is the first limper. If the original limper is someone who you are reading as weak or likes to play marginal hands, then a large reraise in the blind position can secure the pot. This will work as long as the original limper didn't limp in with a premium hand and no limpers are short stacked. However, avoid commting too high a percentage of your stack . Do realize that when you wake up with a hand, you can fire away everytime.
Coming over the top with a preflop reraise once in a while is a decent move. It's something you want to do when you have a nice stack and your opponent is not short stacked. Also, don't price an opponent into the pot by making the raise too small. Sometimes, you can pick one guy and keep reraising him specifically and you may well wake up with a hand to bury him. How much you reraise also depend on the player, pay close attention to who's calling preflop reraises (and with what sort of hands). Raise more against these suckers. By raising 4-5 times their raise, the move has a higher success rate and also define the other guy's hand if he calls or reraise you back.
When playing small ball poker, you often enter the pot 2-2.5 times the BB and often you will get reraised pre-flop. Most of the time, you should fold when someone reraises pre-flop. However, you should reraise if your hand is premium (AA/KK mostly here) or call if you have position or if the raise is minimum. Stack size is also very important has if you commit too high % of your stack, you are priced in and wont have any plays left.
Later on in the tournament, a lot of players get desperate as blinds go high and a lot of hands are simply decided preflop with people going All In rather than anything else. Opponent's hand range is very important here and their range generally broadens as their stack get smaller and smaller. Of course, pot odd also plays a role here.
When your stack is small, you simply have to shove all in with a wide range of hands. However if still you have more than 10 BB's, you can try limping and try to flop big. people may be scared that you limped because you have AA or KK and did not want to scare actions away. When it gets below 10 BB's, just shove away with anything that's not likely to be dominated.
Magic 81 free slots. Flop Play
Aside from making moves, preflop play is mostly systematic and it depends on the blinds and your hole cards. However, the whole point of small ball poker is to outplay others after the first street. The whole point of the smaller 2-2.5 BB pre-flop raise is to get others to play with when they are on a marginal hand and out of position.
After the flop, the big blind will most likely check to you. This is a good time to fire a continuation bet that's 50-80% of the pot. Keep your C-Bet size and frequency consistent. Most of the time, C-Bet is a profitable move. If the big blind check raises you then just fold your hand, even if you highly suspect he is bluffing. If you C-bet enough, the other players will likely to reraise you more often with air and when you catches a hand, they are stuck. over the long run, this is a profitable play. The goal is to chop away smaller pots looking to minimize damage until the right hand comes. The general rule is the majority of your bluffing/semi-bluffing will be done in small pots while having the best hands during big pots. Position if of course very important in post-flop play. You should have position is most of your hands.
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Flopping a drawing hand is a situation where you may want to avoid C-betting, especially in multi-way pots. It is a really bad play in no-limit Hold'em to bet yourself off of a drawing hand. What I mean is, c-betting into a tight opponent with a drawing hand and end up getting check-raised off the hand. However, it is important to avoid checking drawing hands every time as players will pick up on this. If the draw is good and the pot isn't too big relative to stack sizes, I will still fire a 50% pot c-bet. A monster draw is often something you want to get fairly aggressive with. However, betting out of position is still dangerous with a drawing hand.
Marginal hands are very difficult to play and it is often correct to play them safely or passively. The best example of a marginal hand is you raising preflop with QQ or JJ and the flop has an ace. Avoid playing big pot in this situation. By checking the flop down, you are not exactly giving your opponent a high chance of outdrawing you with a hand like QQ. Betting doesn't always give you the information you need and it is rarely better than checking in a marginal situation, except checking is free. If you check to your opponent when you are out of position and calls a smallish bet (unless opponent is very tight), then he may shut down with anything except a high kicker ace unless he hits a drawing hand. check-calling out of position on the flop is very deceptive. If you dont' bet, you cannot be raised off the hand. In fact, checking the flop out of position should be standard. It is important to know which player like to represent an ace on the flop but shuts down on the turn if he gets called.
Position is power. When we have position, we must use it. But when we do not have it, we must respect it. – Daniel Negreanu
Position is of course the most important thing you have. When you are in position, things are much easier. if your opponent leads out at the flop and your hand is marginal (like second pair), then calling is usually the correct move and see what happens on the turn, unless the bet is too big. More often than not, your opponent will check the turn regardless of what he has though. This is where you need to narrow down the range of hands he likes to play out of position/in blinds. If you cannot, then check/calling on the flop is the correct play since it would be difficult to take your opponent off the hand anyways if he hits the flop. Generally, proceed very cautiously with second pairs. Even if you hit 2 pairs on the river, your opponent can hit a straight/flush with the same card. Avoid playing big pots unless you really have a monster hand. Folding is usually the correct move with marginal situations that are not likely to improve. The goal of small ball is to look for high percentage chances to play big pots and avoid playing big pots that require guesswork. You will get bluffed from time to time but that is okay. Keeping composure is very important for small ball poker as you want to avoid marginal pots.
People don't bluff nearly as much as you think they do. Pros win because they play big pots with the best hand, not because they use super-advanced bluffs. Pros win because they depend on the fact that you don't believe them.
The key reason you check the flop with marginal hand is that a bet likely won't change the outcome of who wins the hand. If you have top pair then you should bet to protect your hand and find out about your opponent's hand. Almost nobody will check-raise you out of position with a not so dangerous board. Sometimes you will get bluffed but that's also ok.
In Summry you should bet the flop if
Small Ball Poker Daniel Negreanuwhen you have position but missed the flop. Bet if the board is not that great, unless there are two or more cards above 8 like J-9-7 or A-Q-9
bet when your hand is good but need protection like top pair with solid kicker
bet monster drawing hands
bet if you pick up a tell or if opponent is very weak and passive.
otherwise, check the flop with
drawing hands and you want to see more cards cheaply
check flop that pose little danger of outdrawing your hand. If you have AA and the flop is 2-2-9 then the risk of checking is minimal and you won't get called by much anyways unless he has a 2 or a 9.
If you have a marginal hand on a dangerous board then just check the flop and see what happens on the turn.
when you suspect an opponent caught a big piece of the flop.
Flops like K-K-4 or A-6-6 are hit or miss flops. If you started with the best hand then it will remain the best hand after flops like this high percentage of the time. Other players will either miss completely or hit it big. Play marginal hands very cautiously after these flops to minimize losses.
Manipulating pot size is also very important for small ball poker. Checking the flop is one way to keep the pot small. Raise the flop if you hit it well but also do it from time to time with a bluff if you feel the opponent is weak. Slowplaying a set or 2 pair on a dangerous board is also pointless since either your opponent will outdraw you or a scare card comes and kill the action from your opponent holding big pairs. Raising the flop with a good hand (top pair/2 pair) or even monsters can be a good play as smooth calling shows a lot of strength anyways. A danger card might come and kill the action for your opponent or both of you. More importantly, if you flopped big on a somewhat dangerous board and just calls a bet, even A-A will likely to check the turn. It's much better to raise here and make it look like a bluff, which is also why you should do it with air sometimes to mix it up
Another layer of play is to check a big hand on the flop so the other guys can catch up. This is done best when your hand is good already but very likely to improve such as top air and flush/straight draw. In this case, the flop is absolutely great flop and checking may seem weak to you so your opponent put you on a draw, which you are but your hand is already great. If you are on a nut flush draw and the other dude is on the same draw then it's bad news for him. Usually, checking the flop is to allow people with marginal hands to catch up a little bit when you are way ahead.
When you are in position against your opponent, your hand is not important. It all comes down to the strength of your opponent's hand. This is especially true if your hand could improve by a lot on the turn. In any case, smooth calling on a board with A 9 2 might mean you have AQ AJ A10 etc. If your opponent fires again on the turn and your hand does not dramatically improve then lay it down. If he fired with air on the flop then he will most likely shut down on the turn. Bet about 50% pot here and you should take it down. You may get check-raised on the turn but by keeping your bet small, it's not a big problem, simply muck. You can also do it with a drawing hand in position by smooth calling the flop bet and bet the turn if opponent checks and you hit or don't hit your draw. This is only done in position of course.
Sometimes, it's best to smooth call or check the flop and wait on the turn card for more information. This is best when you have a marginal hand like AJ and pairs the ace on the flop. What your opponent do on the turn, as well as the texture of the 4 community cards will define his hand. Smooth calling the flop down also give you a chance to suck out as well! Raising the flop will only protect your hand when you are ahead and faster information regarding your opponent's hand. Smooth calling flop and turn cost about the same as you raise the flop and get called then check the river. Except you get to the river with the first one, the information is the same.
You are appearing to play weak poker with this sort of plays. What you give up is free cards to your opponent but you get to see his hand with this cautious play. What you gain of course is to trap an opponent with top pair into continuing to bet you. Also, by playing passively, it's less likely that you will get raised off the best hand. The main goal of small ball poker is to get involved with lots of pots but win the ones you are suppose to without taking major risks.
Small Ball Poker Daniel NegreanuTurn Play
The most difficult and important decision you'll have to make will come on the turn. You are deciding if it make sense to keep going to the end of the hand. For small ball poker, it is the most crucial street as you are getting close to a big pot territory. The majority of your stack-building during a tournament will come when you are in position. Out of position, it is hard to get max value for a winning hand, unless it is very strong. Also, it is difficult to execute bluffs.
If you have position and called the flop then a turn raise will be very profitable if the board is fairly dangerous. This is all part of your small ball image as you can hit any flop and turn. However, only make this play against an opponent who is at least somewhat conservative. The image you want to avoid is someone who just raises with pocket pairs and ace paints.
The Johnny Chan Play is a move where you check-call the flop and lead the turn betting. When you are out of position on the turn, your ability to do stuff is not so great. This move eliminates your opponent's positional advantage over you at minimal risk. If your opponent calls and you don't have at least top pair, then you can assume your hand is no good and fold to any bet on the river unless you catch something. At the same time, even if you do have the best hand on the turn with second pair, by betting the turn, you are avoiding a larger bet on the turn and having to guess whether your hand is good. This bet is a protection bet for the most part. It protects against overcards when you have the best hand and protects you from any bluffs on the river. It also controls the pot size and can even bluff your opponent off a better hand. You can also play strong hands with this play to mix it up of course. The cost is about the same as check-raising the flop but the range of cards your opponent can call with is narrower, and it defines your opponent's hand better. If you do not make this turn bet then your opponent may bet the river and you will be guessing! The only downside of this play is that you will be giving your opponent a free turn card, compared to check-rasing flop. However, you can abort the play if a scare card comes on the turn, like an ACE. This play allows you to take control of the pot size (unless he raises you).
Check-Raising the turn is a very powerful tool. You should check raise only occasionally in no limit if you are small ball player. The three reasons for this is
it makes the pot bigger
if your opponent calls, you have a difficult decision on the river out of position
a check raise you may cost you pots that you could have won if your hand was a drawing hand or he's just bluffing you.
For the most part, check-raise the turn should only be done when your hand is very strong. It is a really bad move with a drawing hand. When your opponents catch on that you will often check call out of position, they are more likely to fire a 2nd bullet on the turn. Against players like those, don't raise too much to take the play away from them. You want them to put in another raise or go all in when you have the nuts. If you go all in, you take away their chance of trying to resteal the pot as they can only call with a good hand. You can also do this move as a bluff but you need to have a good read on your opponent. If another player also calls you when you do the Johnny Chan play, then you might have to check-raise him on the turn in future bluffs. If your opponent calls your turn bluff then you are probably beaten.
When you flop a drawing hand, you should always think about ways you could win the pot if you don't happen to make your draw. You need to fake extra outs. Most importantly, if a scare card comes on the turn for your opponent, but it didn't complete your straight or flush, you need to take a jab it. You are both taking down the pot and protecting your own drawing hand, especially ones will be better than yours on the river. An example is that you have an open ended straight draw on the flop with 2 cards of the same suit. If the turn matches those 2 cards, putting a 3 card flush draw on board then you must bet it, even if it doesn't complete your hand. Even if he calls and the river is a blank, you can take another jab at it with a bigger bet, unless a 4th card of the same suit comes. Even if he calls the turn with just an overpair, which he shouldn't, you still have outs.
If you are in position and playing with a drawing hand, what you should do is pot-odds dependent. However, since there may be additional betting on the river the exact pot odds is not exact, ergo implied odds. The size of the implied pot on the river of course depends on how good your opponent's hand is or how good you think it is as well as how aggressive he is. Your turn decision will need to include a plan for the river as well, it is the most important street for small ball.
Let's see what happens if you hit your hand on the river. If your opponent checks on river when you don't have a high flush/nut straight, you can make a small bet for the most part. Either he has a hand that will fold to a large bet anyways or he's waiting to check raise you with the nuts since you are usually aggressive. In this case, if your opponent lead out with a large bet then consider folding or just call if the bet is not so big. When you do have the nuts and your opponent bets into you then it's about getting the most out of him. If you think he's bluffing then try to appear you are also bluffing with air. If you think he has a strong hand like trips then you can even move in. Sometimes a small raise is also good just to extract a bit more chips out of someone with a marginal hand.
Sometimes, you can call the turn bet with a drawing out and factor in bluffing outs that you can use to bluff the other guy off his hand on the river if it comes. This will require you to have a strong read of your opponent of course. Depending on the texture of the board, your number of outs can dramatically increase if you read your opponent for a marginal hand. Bluffs are most effective when used sporadically and in situations where it seems obvious to your opponent that you must have the best hand.
When you play deep stack poker, one pair, regardless of how big it is, is rarely ever good enough to risk going broke with after the fl0p. When playing with overpair, it is important not to get the pot too big. The main goal is to avoid traps. Most of the times, it is good to continue at least to the turn with big pairs and decide then whether or not you should continue. When you are out of position, checking the turn is usually the best play even with acess on a board that is kind of dangerous. The same goes for a hit-or-miss flop as well lilke 10-4-4. Being aggressive out of position often result in situations where you have to guess and it's not as profitable anyways. When you are in position, you can also check a dangerous board should it develop but it's much safer. The mindset with an overpair on the turn should be one of caution rather than excitement. However, the value of over pairs go up as you get deeper and deeper into the tournament.
Tournament Concepts
In Deep-Stack tournaments, it's rare that an overpair is in the lead when an all in pot is played on the turn. All you hear is about aggression these days but it's careful play in marginal situations that makes one the best.
On the turn, you need to think the hand through and figure out where you are at. Also, you should go into your subconscious and find any subconscious recognitions that will make you a better player. Sometimes, you just know.
As a small ball player, your biggest goal is to avoid big traps and losing your stacks in marginal situation. You will lose many small pots but you won't be risking your stack as often. You are also going to let people see a lot of free cards by playing this way but it's not as bad as going into a trap you can't get away from by being aggressive. Sometimes, by letting the last card hit, you can access the situation better and know for sure if you have the best hand. This way, you won't be the guy who goes all in on the flop in a 90-10 win rate situations and gets sucked out on the river. If the ace is going to come on the river anyways, at least you save your stack this time.
Some people will disagree with this concept. Surely getting your money in the middle in a 90-10 is a great spot. However, if there is an alternative play that helps you avoiding risking your whole stack then you should be making this often weaker play. During a cash game then all that matters is you make the play with the highest EV but in tournament, your EV is tired into the likelihood of going broke as well. If you know you are 60-40, going all in preflop in a tournament is just nuts. Pros say they want to avoid coinflips most of the time and it is true, because they believe they can build their stacks without risking it all at one spot. The concept you need to accept as a tournament player is that if you can consistently win small pots and increase your stack, it is a bad play to risk your whole stack on a hand even if you know you willwin more often than not.
River Play
The goal of small ball poker is to get to the river with marginal hands without investing too much chips, unless your hand is a monster of course. Your table image is someone who bluffs throughout the hand, the river is not a time to make them right. The river is when you want to extract full value for strong hands and avoid losing chips than necessary and induce bluffs from opponents who think you are weak. You should remember that your bluff bet size and value bet size should be the same. Small ball works best when most hands don't even get to the river, but when they do, a player can make a small bet and the other just may call. Your bet size should not exceed pot size. The key to figuring out the correct value bet size is figuring out the strength of your opponent's hand actually. The stronger his hand, the more you can bet. Also, you should avoid putting guys all-in while value betting, even if it's not a lot.
It is important to figure out: is your opponent more likely to call your bet or bet if you check to him? When you have a marginal to strong hand and think your opponent either has you crushed or has missed the draw, betting the river won't do you any good because you will either get raised by a better hand or folded to when he missed his draw. When you are out of position, just check away and call a bet, sometimes this can earn you a free show down. During other times, your opponent won't be betting into you anymore because you keep check calling with medium to strong hands. This is the place where you want to get where your opponents won't be making thin value bets against you. It's the best to have your opponent play cautiously against you on the river. The downside of course is that your opponents won't be value betting for you anymore, you need to start value betting for yourself. You need to make adjustments and bet your own marginal hands a little more. The goal is to minimize your loss when you are out of position.
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The goal with a defensive bet is essentially to minimize your losses in marginal situation when you are not sure if your hand is the best but you have to call your opponent's bet. The idea is to bet a smaller amount than you think your opponent would bet which will force him to raise you on the river. He will only raise you with a very strong hand and will just call other times. This works even better when the board is representing a flush or straight. The bet takes away your opponent's bluff and gets you to showdown for a cheaper price. Essentially, the defensive bet give you control of the pot size. You can also make this defensive bet to induce a bluff from someone who is aggressive.
In situations where you think your opponent missed a draw and you want to bluff at it, make the bluff on the smaller side. If you have the nuts, you can make the same bet and hope he will bluff at it. Most of the time, your river bet is dependent on your opponent. Is he a tricky player? What's his hand range? How did he play in the hand so far? Sometimes checking in a marginal situation is better than squeezing out a value bet. Lean towards checking the river especially out of position.
FIVE key river questions
Will your opponent call?
Will he check-raise you?
Will he check a hand that have you beat?
Is he a tricky player who will bluff you when you make a thin value bet?
Is the bet worth the risk at all?
Bluffing on the river should not be done too much. The best targets for bluffing on the river are smarter players who think they have you all figured out. Also, it's important to read your opponent's hand. If you don't know the strength of his hand, you just won't know if your bluff will work. Represent your river bluff as a river value bet of course.