Tripling up first hand, now what?

[shejk]

***** Hand History for Game 1956296055 *****
NL Hold'em $50 Buy-in + $5 Entry Fee Trny:11658565 Level:1 Blinds(10/15) - Tuesday, April 26, 15:25:56 EDT 2005
Table Table 12865 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: uhoohman ( $1000 )
Seat 2: Nighthwish ( $1000 )
Seat 3: WeGotVlad33 ( $1000 )
Seat 4: Sally0423 ( $1000 )
Seat 5: breeedlove28 ( $1000 )
Seat 6: beegu ( $1000 )
Seat 7: SEVEN02GUY ( $1000 )
Seat 9: ruiamsoru ( $1000 )
Seat 10: Ghusten ( $1000 )
Seat 8: bobmack1963 ( $1000 )
Trny:11658565 Level:1
Blinds(10/15)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Ghusten [ Qd Qh ]
ruiamsoru folds.
Ghusten raises [100].
>You have options at Table 11547 Table!.
uhoohman folds.
Nighthwish folds.
WeGotVlad33 folds.
>You have options at Table 11547 Table!.
Sally0423 is all-In [1000]
breeedlove28 folds.
beegu folds.
>You have options at Table 11547 Table!.
>You have options at Table 11547 Table!.
>You have options at Table 11547 Table!.
>You have options at Table 11775 Table!.
>You have options at Table 11547 Table!.
SEVEN02GUY is all-In [990]
bobmack1963 folds.
Ghusten is all-In [900]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6s, 6h, 8d ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7s ]
** Dealing River ** [ 4s ]
Ghusten shows [ Qd, Qh ] two pairs, queens and sixes.
Sally0423 shows [ 2d, 2h ] two pairs, sixes and twos.
SEVEN02GUY shows [ Qs, Ah ] a pair of sixes.
Ghusten wins 3015 chips from the main pot with two pairs, queens and sixes.
SEVEN02GUY finished in ninth place.
Sally0423 finished in ninth place.
Sally0423 has left the table.
SEVEN02GUY has left the table.
The Small Blind left the table. The Dealer button remains in place.


So... now what? Do I continue playing my normal tightish game until blinds go up so I can bully preflop? Do I start looking for more opportunities to play mediocre hands as I'm not risking my tourney even if I go allin? This is what I remember doing when this happened in the 20s and 30s, and I believe I usually lost most of my chiplead doing exactly that.

I'm leaning towards just playing like I usually do, at least up til the blinds rise. It feels like it gotta be sub-optimal poker though.

[zambonidrivr]

i think you got it right. when i get myself in this spot, i'm a little more willing to play Ax suited and small connectors (cheaply and in position). Otherwise, stick you your game plan

[swarm]

I think crawling into a shell would be mistake but bluffing and calling off large amounts of chips is a cardinail sin in this position.

If you have discipline and can get away from a hand I prefer looking at a lot cheap flops in levels 1 + 2 in these situations but i'm only playing when I hit a flop really hard or can see really good draws for cheap.

I don't start bullying until level 3, this is a great level to bully with a big stack. It's an awkward blind for many of the medium stacks. I'm min-raising a lot of flops and then bullying where I sense weakness. I'm only bluffing into big pots with a really good draw.

If I get stung or exposed I may tighten up a bit. If I hit the nuts such as an obvious flush or straight I push, you would be surprised how many call thinking that your bullying. No one believes you have anything when you push as a big stack.

[Phil Van Sexton]

I don't think it's worth it to bully preflop. Either everyone folds and you win the tiny blinds or they call with a better hand than yours in a big pot.

I prefer to open up my game and play more like a side game. Feel free to limp in late position hands that you'd normally fold (like 87s). You have enough chips where you can limp in and try to make a big hand. If you flop a draw, go ahead and push as a semi-bluff if it makes sense.

Since you'll be in position, you can also do your bullying if your opponents show weakness on the flop, even if you flopped nothing.

Also, go ahead and play hands like 99 or AQ aggressively. Maybe you normally call with these and play cautiously. Now you can raise and play them with no fear of going broke.

[stanzee]

You wanna stay tight to begin with. You dont wanna loosen up yet, as this is leaking. Be patient boy, and
wait till your closer to the bubble, then BANG, use those chips to drive 'em out of every mother fecking hand!

[Bigwig]

When I get a big stack early, I make such small strategy changes that they're hardly worth mentioning. Still playing very tight/aggressive poker is right for the small blinds.

[Phoenix1010]

The risk:reward ratio of bullying on levels 1,2, and even 3 is never going to be very highly in your favor. You also shouldn't look at a big stack as a warrant for playing weak hands preflop to try to hit something. That is a good way to bleed chips back to the other players and get yourself in sticky situations over small pots. The big stack is a weapon to use playing super aggressively to steal blinds and pots. Protect your lead until the blinds are worthwhile.

-Phoenix

[gasgod]

You Play tight in the early levels for two reasons. First, the blinds are too small to contest with marginal hands. Second, you need to conserve chips so you're not short stacked at later levels.

I use the extra chips to enter the pot mostly in late position with the marginal hands I normally muck. Also, it enables me to play AK and AQs more aggressively. But my play is still mostly tighter than the other players.


GG