[Jbrochu]

I don’t believe there is any one “best” strategy for STT SnG’s. People win with many different strategies. While there is no one “best” strategy, some strategies are difficult to play (and teach), while others are relatively easier to play (and teach). Harrington’s recommendations, in his own words, are based on a relatively conservative approach with the emphasis on simplifying his decision-making process while exerting maximum pressure on his opponent.

Clearly, early on in a tournament when your stack size is large in relation to the blinds, one valid strategy is to play more speculative hands hoping for a big payoff. However, you need to either be disciplined enough to give up on these hands when you don’t flop a monster, or skilled enough post-flop to figure when your medium or bottom pair is good. Most beginners don’t have the required discipline or the post-flop skills, and so when they limp in with a speculative hand and flop middle pair, it costs them their entire stack. I believe this is why you see the conservative approach recommended so often for small buy-in on-line STT’s.

Another reason the conservative approach works so well for the small buy-in on-line tournaments is the simple fact that most of your opponents are not paying attention to you. You can play solid and tight poker with absolutely no deception and still get your monster hands paid off, often with a double-up. This is why I don’t mess around too much early with extremely speculative hands, although I will play the better one’s such as J,10 suited and small pairs.