Hello,
I'd like to ask everyone's thoughts on Negreanu's book "Power Holdem Strategy."

I realize it was written and released back in 2009 I believe, but he talks about "small ball", playing lots of hands, and small bets and raises. Isn't that pretty much what the LAG style is all about and how this game is played currently?

I might have a book like that on my list sometime in the future when I have read all the more math based books and I am printing money.

But I don't think the small ball is the way the game is played these days because of the more aggro raises, and more so vs. shorter stacks. The style of play these days being generally more math based and the better place to start, and then add more whenever there is a good spot for it, if one can handle it.

Bet sizes are mainly about the stack sizes and flop types, but I am sure Daniel has his own way, like Hellmuth has, just that the newer generations don't usually play like that.

The LAG style is like Little's (old?) style, that Gus Hansen also used with success, it seems, in tournaments where players don't call much preflop, nor raise and reraise much, and will fold to a c-bet more often than they should. So, in these cases the lag strategy from most part is to open looser than normal and c-bet around half the pot and then check the turn like generally (with no 3-streets of value hand, nor a good barrel bluff spot) and often bluff catch or value bet on the river (with position), and that's pretty much all there is to it. But that is not small ball, other than when it comes to not pushing marginal hands vs. resistance.

Small ball fits better in tourneys, and refers to (open or not) calling (instead of 3-betting), and otherwise also picking the lower variance path. It is said that one needs to read the players well to be able to play small ball, or lag for that matter. But there can be some simple ways and options one might pick in right spots, and be more or less math based also, or just exploitive, like when one prefers to keep the variance lower.

It seems what has matured in NLHE since 2009 is the endgame on the river, with optimal frequency play, which is designed to win the amount equal to the size of the pot on the river. You can play small ball pre and on the flop to gather information, but you need to be thinking what modern villains are capable of on a scary river, versus a blank river, and the depth of stacks involved. A dry flop can get an action turn card, or a wet flop can get a blank turn, or wet flops where turn fills every possible draw hand, and modern players are different in setting up river shoves in all these scenarios.


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