Everything in poker needs to comply with a frequency. There is either too much of something or not at all. For instance, you may be opting to fold a lot, or maybe you are someone who calls too little. You may consider it as a balance.
Small poker and big poker strategies work with frequencies. Small ball poker offers you a more comprehensive range, and you can play it rigorously. Big ball, on the contrary, is the exact opposite. They are limited in their range, though not too passive.
This post shall tell you more about the small-ball poker strategy.
Small Ball Poker In Cash Games
Small ball poker plays on an advantage. Players with a strong hand tend to call you for medium hands. They never let you win with a strong hand.
On the contrary, big ball poker allows players to fold to you due to their mediocre hands. This is because they do not want to let you win with a strong hand.
Both the strategies are entitled to an image when used ambiguously. It is a broader subject of concern. Without correct math, it would not be easy to prosper in poker. When you strategize keeping a balance, poker is a good play.
You can undoubtedly go for small ball strategies in tournament poker. Poker tournament players get stacks less than 50 big blinds. You do not get to deal with 100 BB or more in a tournament that often. The odds of more than one player having such a stack is vague.
There is a consistent survival mindset in poker tournaments than in cash games. Poker tournament results are definitive. When you are the one to bust, the game is done. Calling bluffs in such games is complicated.
Such stack ratios and the survival mindset often result in poorly implied odds in every hand of a tournament. This is the reason you should go for better frequencies and abrasive styles to reap more remarkable results. Stealing small pots can balance the negativities of shooting blinds and fluctuating stacks.
With a pot of stacks, you are unlikely to have two bigger hands revealing themselves. Small ball covers you for good.
Cash games deal with opulence as opposed to survival. Big pots are the best dealers in cash games. Here, implied odds rule you. Small pots can make an image for you instead. They rarely give you the desired outcome, unlike in tournaments.
Endnotes
Small ball poker overall is a master strategy to use, but not in cash games. It would be best to aim for alternative approaches to go about it.