Small Ball

[nyrush]

On the special 1 hour WPT poker corner and the WSOP ME FT audio broadcast, DN and Hellmuth talked a lot about 'small ball' where they limp into pots as they don't want to lose a lot of money without as large of an edge that may come on the flop. They also said that they may call on the flop instead of raise as they can then see if their opp makes a long shot draw b4 putting all their money in the pot. Obviously they do it in tourneys only because they feel they have an advantage over any1 at any time and can't rebuy and use that advantage when they bust out in tournaments. My question however is, how do they do it, specically post flop? i.e. in what situations would they call instead of raise etc. Thanks.

[BlackAces]

Dan Harrington discusses this a bit in HOH I. He likes to reduce volatility when he sees situations in his favour, like having position and playing against weaker opposition. He goes on to say that, in similar situations, weaker players should be increasing their volatility (i.e. putting more money in) to minimize the advantage more skilled players have postflop.

In effect, better players want to put less money in so that they can allow their greater skill, particularly postflop, to play a larger role in the hand, while weaker players should put more money in so they can have easier decisions later.

Dunno if this answers the question completely or not, but I hope it helps.

[nyrush]

That didn't really answer the question, but still very helpful. I read HOH, but didn't remember that part so your post will get me to review the book. Thanks.