I liked wayching this as you play in much the same way as I do. I think there were a lot of spots where you could of picked up dead money. Also based on your read of the opponent there were a few instances were you could of value checked the turn when you had a hand instead of leading out. I can't imagine that against this opponent you'd need to worry about balancing your play too much.

What I'd really like to see is you apply your style angainst an aggressive player, especially a very aggressive, winning player as that's where I have the most troubles myself.

I would like to see much more, I really love the small ball approach to these games.

Good Luck

Broker

Hey brokerstar,

Sometimes I like to mix it up and play hands really strange so that my opponents never know whats going on. Often times I will check top pair on flop, then chk raise the turn, but sometimes I just lead. I agree that against this type of opponent, there was probably no need to mix it up, but I still usually do.

If people like this vid, I would like to record another one in the future, possibly against an aggressive player. They are def the trickiest to play using smallball. We'll see what responses I get to this vid first.

I do have to work on the sound issues. I found a lot of static sound in the vid. Maybe I need to buy a new microphone.

Ya I really like smallball too, I will never go back to ultra aggressive preflop approach. I tried it back in the day, and I was breakeven at best using the longball style. I would spew too many chips on bluffs and stuff, and get my money in a lot less of a favorite in big pots. Using smallball, I feel that I can manipulate the pots really well (pot control is huge in heads up, one of the most important aspects in my opinion to be a great heads up player), and I also feel that I can find spots to get my money in good.

Anyways, thanks for watching the video.

Brilliant27

Well in short I would definatley re-new my memberships if there was a constant stream of small ball videos being put up... Thanks again.  ;)

Very interesting video. I was trying to think about why this strategy is better than raising in position.  And I'm not sure exactly which style is better. I always thought I had a huge advantage against anyone that limped the button, but maybe for the wrong reasons...

Limp style:

Pros: 
Pot control
Deception
Lower variance due to more hands and more nut-peddling
Less incentive to c-bet marginal hands w/less invested
Draws only take minimal investment to get paid

Cons:
Can't bloat pots pre w/premium hands
Aggro players will bluff the sh1t out of you
You will have to make very tough calls against aggros
Aggros will control the pot size and can force you to play raised pots

Raise style:

Pros:
In position pots will be larger
Opp can put you on a range, but if you raise enough hands, it's still very deceptive
C-bet will take down larger pot and mathematical odds of opponent hitting are less than needed to profitably c-bet near 100%
Forces opponent to either make light call-downs, bluff, or get lucky
Premium hands will get paid off large if opp hits weaker hand due to constant c-bets
Every high stakes player I know uses this style

Cons:
Pots frequently larger than you would like w/marginal hands
Deception of raising frequently requires raising mediocre hands like connectors which are unlikely to hit TP
Ultra-aggro opponents will take advantage of cbets by check-raising light
Passive opponents will take away some of edge by simply calling down with anything, forcing you to hit a hand.
(could be pro or con) You will have to play the 3-bet game against other aggros which sends variance sky-high

I'd really like to see a video against an aggro opponent.  Also, there is the question of hourly rate, which could possibly be much lower, however your winrate is no doubt much higher.

Hey Ryanjm,

I'm not trying to say that one style is better than the other. All I'm doing is showing people my style, and proving that there are multiple ways to play husngs, and multiple ways to play all forms of poker profitably. Thats what so great about the game. You can develop your own style, implement it, and see if it works for you. The smallball style is still poker. The only difference comes by not raising preflop, and playing some postflop hands in unique manners. People fundamentally see no preflop raising as "oh this player must suck cause hes limping preflop all the time." Whereas this may be true for 99% of limping players, beware of the 1% of limpers who actually know how to play near perfectly postflop. They can be tough to play against, and they are very patient, looking very hard for good bluffing spots, and looking very hard for thin value spots. Fortunately, you won't have to face a good preflop limper that often, cause the simple fact is that there are only a handful of good preflop limpers in the husng world.

I agree with most of your pro and con list. Thanks for taking the time to develop the list.

I find it amazing how many people dismiss the smallball style in heads up poker as simply "meh" and "kind of rediculous". I hear it all the time, trust me. But the simple fact is that it produces results, and thats all I'm in it for.

If people like this video against a tight player, I will possibly be making another video against a more aggressive player. But I'd like more comments from people on this vid before making another one. I'd like to see if the interest is out there in the heads up sng world, to see more smallball videos, before putting in the time and effort of making another one.

Anyways, glad you enjoyed! If you have any questions, send me a private message. Good luck!

Brilliant27

I really liked the video. I am definitely interested in more videos of this type as I play a similar style often times. I would really like to see one with a more aggressive opponent and maybe even an ultra aggressive opponent. But I would also hope to see another against a tighter opponent. Make that happen and add in a new microphone and I would be happy.

Interesting video Brilliant. I liked it a lot. I used to use a smallball approach and eventually lagged it up. But I'm thinking about going back to smallball for a change of pace. Look forward to seeing you play a LAG.

Thanks Trank, ya Ill be making a vid against a lag sometime in the future.

OsirisisKa----an always-improving-beginner...to the bitter end.

Oh
my
god!

If I were one of those snap! snap! snap! action-junkies on Stars,
and I had to play against someone like this...I would, unquestion-
ably, get to a point where the fight in me is gone.

Then, I would delude myself into thinking that if I go big...I could
make this game into a coin-flip.

And thus get this HELL over with.   And move on.

Moreover, I've never before seen a style which utilizes so few rules
as this one.

Hmm.

So villain was Cally Walley sometimes.  And Foldy Woldey at other times.

But what if our villain is Raisey Crazy?