Anyone who knows anything about my approach to No Limit Hold'em understands that I'm a firm believer in the small ball theory rather than the riskier all-in approach to the game.

Small ball, as it relates to poker, is a grind it out style of play that, while still aggressive, doesn't rely on big heroics. The small ball tournament approach looks to steadily increase your chip count, while trying to avoid big risks in marginal situations.

Remember that small ball is an extremely advanced strategy and should only be used by players with a good amount of experience.

The reason that's true is because small ball depends heavily on hand reading skills. On top of that, it entails playing a lot of hands, and being faced with decisions that are more difficult.

Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Erick Lindgren, Gus Hansen, myself, and a slew of other top No Limit Hold'em players, all use the small ball approach. It's hardly a coincidence.

Beginners should stick to the home run approach by playing big bet poker with all-in bets when necessary. While that's not the optimal long-term strategy, it will help neutralize a better player's advantage over them.

Think about that for a minute.

When a rookie keeps going all-in every hand, he takes all the play away from his more experienced competition. The small ball expert wants to see a lot of flops cheaply so he can outplay novices after the flop. The all-in strategy negates that advantage, and the pro is relegated to being just another player waiting for a good hand.

Now, of course, I'm not suggesting that you go all-in crazy. Large raises can often accomplish the same objective.

As a rule, a beginning player should instead look to make large raises before the flop. When the blinds are $400-$800 with a $100 ante, the home run hitter should be raising to $4,000. There is really no good reason to change the raise amount based on your cards. In fact, by raising the same amount with pocket aces as you would with Ace-10, you give away less information to your opponents.

Conversely, a small ball veteran would likely raise the pot to about three times the big blind. So, if there are nine people seated at the table, with $2,100 in blinds and antes, the expert would raise about $2,000 to $2,400.

While the beginning player was risking $4,000 to win $2,100 (laying nearly 2-1 odds on the hand), the small ball player is getting much better value — about even money.

Another thing to think about is that the home run hitter won't get as much action as the small ball player. Against the slugger, the big blind would have to call an additional $3,200 to see the flop. Against the small ball player, he might only have to call $1,200, getting almost 3-1 odds.

This is the essential difference that makes the home run style much easier to play. Sluggers simply don't have to make as many decisions after the flop. Small ball players, however, desperately want to see a lot of flops so that they can force opponents into more difficult decisions.

The very best small ball players make poker look like controlled chaos. They're seemingly involved in every hand and are always keeping opponents on their heels.

Consider one more sports analogy — boxing. The small ball player continually throws jabs while always keeping his guard up. His goal is to wait for the opportunity when his opponent makes a big mistake and opens up his chin.

That's when he socks it to him with the big uppercut.
By Daniel Negreanu