Early stragedy in sit-n-gos ... loosen up?

[SoCalPat]

I play a lot of these at Paradise, almost exclusively the $10 ones.

Many of the questions I respond to here, however, are not dealing with traditional tournaments. In fact, I've played in a total of one 100-plus player tourney, and it was in a B&M casino.

Sooooooo ... I believe there is a different approach required in these one-table tournaments, simply because there's no time to wait for AA, KK or any other hand that's an automatic play from EP. You have to loosen up early in the tournament to have a chance.

I've developed some "rules" for myself in these tournaments, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on them as they pertain to sit-and-gos ... and not regular tourneys with large fields (because applying them in such a tourney will likely result in a quick elimination).

1.) Bet with and call one raise with any suited A or K from any position, limp late with any suited one and two-gap Q and J.

2.) Play any pocket pair and call one raise (don't call multiple bets cold with small pairs out of position). With position, raise with middle pairs if first into the pot.

3.) Play any suited connector from 45 on up from MP and later.

4.) Jam the pot when you've flopped a monster draw.

[Justaloser]

I'm not familiar with Paradise's format (ie time of levels, how quickly they move up), so this may not be applicable.

I have found that if I loosen up and remain aggressive, I am MUCH more prone to busting out early.

If I play loose weak-tight but aggressive with powerful hands, I do ok.

If I play tight aggressive, I do even better.

The problem I find is that early too many people try to get the quick double up or they're just not playing that well. I'd rather get just a few of their chips, and wait til the higher blind limits.

This does two things, I means I have to go up against fewer players that are less likely to stay in on weak draws, and since I haven't been playing many pots, my steal attempts are more likely to be successful.

Your style will be ok, provided you are either talking limit or you wont call any big raises.

You're biggest problems will come playing low suited connectors or low pairs if you're not able to muck them even when you catch a piece of the flop.

[SoCalPat]

Your style will be ok, provided you are either talking limit or you wont call any big raises.

Of course ... silly me forgot to indicate that I'm playing in limit tournaments here.

In no limit, unless I'm holding the stone cold nuts or something very, very close to it, I won't call large raises or all-in bets ... I want to be the one making those bets with strong holdings. I'm sure you'd call it tight-aggressive, and that's what works best for me in NLHE tournaments.