Early stages - tight is right?

[DonLigretto]

Hi

I'm a bit confused..I just watched a video from fieryjustice on sngicons of his 4th place in the Million guaranteed (fulltilt) and he plays much looser in the beginning than I am. Usually I play tight, and only play premium hands very agressive and try to limp with low pairs to hit a set. However I don't play suited connecters and hands like Q10 suited etc. unless I'm in LP and 2-3 limpers are in the pot. Is this the correct approach or do I have to loosen up? It's just sometimes a problem when I seriously have a bad run of cards and don't get any premium hand in the beginning and reach the push or fold mode too early. But maybe I seriously have to limp more with suited connectors and hands like Q10, KJ or even raise them if folded to me...

[Cornell Fiji]

it is possible that tight is optimal for you and loose is optimal for fj.

it is harder to show a profit with mediocre hands so if you are not a good hand reader it might be best to stay tight. if you can't value bet thin, make tough calls, and make tough laydowns at the right times then you should not be playing the suspect hands that better players can show a profit with.

[hollaballa]

[ QUOTE ]
it is possible that tight is optimal for you and loose is optimal for fj.

it is harder to show a profit with mediocre hands so if you are not a good hand reader it might be best to stay tight. if you can't value bet thin, make tough calls, and make tough laydowns at the right times then you should not be playing the suspect hands that better players can show a profit with.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, I think this is a universal answer to this often asked question. You see the same thing in most books...tight is right.

I think the reason for that is stated above. Most people get themselves into too much trouble playing weaker hands. You have to know how to play those hands.

It sounds to me you do need to losen up a little though. Sounds like you're just waiting for monsters and if they don't come you're in trouble.

[alavet]

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...e=0#Post4202217

[jaffa]

I tend to play the early stages like a cash game. However you do have to be good at reading hands etc and knowing when to keep pots small and about way ahead/way behind situations. Perhaps spend some time reading some hands from the NLHE forums. I think it's also entirely dependent on stack sizes: obviously don't play like a cash game if you've got a short stack in relation to the blinds etc, and obviously be aware of other people's stacks. In order to play the marginal hands that you mention you need your opponents to have sufficiently big enough stacks to give you the big implied odds that these hands need.

[4CardStraight]

Speculating early allows for some very big profit potential, but as CFiji points out, you need to be a good hand reader. Becoming a good hand reader is difficult, and playing some of these SC and broadway hands that are marginal helps us to be a better one. The more predictably your opponent plays and the tighter his range, the easier it is to speculate against them profitably. If you know you can extract value from a pair and fold it when behind, then its much easier to play broadway cards early when we have 50+bb. If we know our opponent is an uber tight nit, and given their action they have a premium, then we can speculate against them with a suited ace even if we have potential to be dominated, because we will fight for stacks with our Nut Flush. If the player is really strong and will not pay you off, dont speculate. Speculate from position. Speculate from a dominating chip position. Speculate against players that play predictably. Play tight from oop. Play tighter when behind your opponent in chips. Play tighter against players that are tricky/trappy.

Thats what I would suggest. But yes, skilled players can call with hands that are easily dominated and still show +EV, but they need to be able to read hands, the tighter and more predictable our opponent, the easier that is. Someone who only plays one hand every three orbits in the first couple levels is usually QUITE EASY to hand read against.

On the other side of the coin, when we open up our play, and when we see more flops and speculate more often, WE BECOME HARDER TO READ. This generates EV as well, one can argue.