In the second free hand anaylsis video where Dn raises UTG with J9 hearts and Wasika calls with K 10 spades

The flop comes 6 8 10.

DN checks, Wasika bets a small ball amount into the pot, I think 15 into a pot of 25.

Wasika says he wants to keep the bet small enough that if he gets raised he's not committed. Okay I see that.

DN then says his pot odds of calling 15 to win 40 so he definately is going to call.

Now I undestand the small ball philosophy of pot control, chip preservation, etc.

But didn't Wasika place his pot totally at risk by giving DN perfect pot odds to call?

Wouldn't this be a situation where small ball is showing a pure defensive strength, but almost no offensive strength?

DN was going to call a bigger raise I understand, but when he said definately going to call my first thought was small ball made it much easier for the other players to chase draws.

If Paul knew what DN had, a draw, he could make him pay and or give him bad odds to call.


I understand that as a general strategy the small ball has great strengths, but on a draw heavy board, don't you want to abandon small ball and price people out of pots?

The way that Daniel plays, he still likes to keep the pot small. Also, he's not afraid to let people draw, as long as they're paying a reasonable price to do it. If he feels that the other player misses his draw, and he still has the best hand at the river, Daniel usually checks to induce a bluff or just calls when he's in position.

Daniel's a freak. Just sayin'

He plays pairs with caution, he protects his whole stack not what is on the table when he just has a pair

You might want to get advice from a better player, but I think I would do the same thing while playing against a range.

There are a couple of reasons


the first one is the one Wasika mentioned, you don't want to inflate the pot with just a pair, in case you get raised.

The second one, imo, is that a bigger bet there scares off the draw customers. I induce a call there building the pot a bit with what figures to be the best hand knowing I am potentially playing against some sort of draw, and re-evaluating the turn if a scare card hits. As you said, if he had bet a bit bigger, daniel may peel one off anyway, this keeps us out of trouble while still getting money in the pot.

I see what you are saying, but the entire purpose of pot odds is that you can make calls because in the long game, you will make money making these calls if the pot odds are on your side.

So the 'correct play' would be to bet an amount that doesn't give the person the correct pot odds. This way in the long game, they will lose money.

The draws are not always gonna get there.

How many times have you said this to yourself on your way out the door?

I know, right? I seem to never hit draws yet conversly get punked almost every time I value town and let them draw.


But the best in the bizz remind me all the time that they will not always get there.... so I try to keep believing.


taint easy.