When does a SnG begin

We all know that in a re-buy you try to build a large bank at almost any cost for the real game that begins after the break, but how about the SnG?

It is my feeling that you start out an SnG very tight...most players play loose at this point, trying also to build a stack. But the problem is that the real game doesn't begin untill you have 4 and at most 5 players left...it is here where the small stack can become the large stack and visa versa. Your beginning chips are valuable chips, because you don't have many and because it is easy to get into battle with questionable winning hands, your opponent who is loose and aggressive can cause you to put a lot more chips into the center of the table than you planned on putting there and therefore restrict a lot of your future play if you lose.

I feel that it is important to play only hands where you know that you have the dominate hand. You don't want to be playing before the real game and then starting the real game with a very short bank. It is too easy here to get involved in a battle that you don't belong in. Also in the early game the blinds are too small to give you any kind of a decent pot to try and steal.

Now the late game with the high blinds and short table is where the better player has a chance to emerge and the higher the blinds get and the shorter the table becomes the better off he is. At this point you will know your opponents much better than the beginning of the SnG, the blinds are much larger and the opportunity to outplay your opponents for them is much greater.

Yeah, I definately play a bit too loose at the beginning of SnG's. I normally end up doing fairly well overall, winning my fair share and cashing in a nice percentage but I always, I mean I ALWAYS end up starting out as the short stack for some reason. Take Malas DS for instance, I was down to 150 on the 1st table and down to 70 on final table each with 9 people left... won the 1st table (obviously) and managed to squeek out 5th in the final. Same thing in the TS I won to go to the series, final table I was down to 290 with 8 peeps left. I don't mind so much as I feel I am a strong shortstacked player and for whatever reason I feel more comfortable playing the SS than a BS. MTTs, get down to 100 left if I'm in the top 5 something happens to me and I start throwing chips away for some reason.

Anyhow, yes starting a SnG tight is the way to play, most of the time I feel thats how I'm playing it but still manage to hand over chips in the beginning

I am the same way Fink. But I dont really mind being shortstacked ( early) too much because your not at a HUGE disadvantage in the lower limits because you seem to always get callers to double or triple up. They always think it is a deparation move and will call with very marginal hands like J9s or something even though the blinds may have only been 30/60 or something. I tend to tighten up waaaay to much when I get a big stack for some reason.

__________________
Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.

It's harder at Royal Vegas to play tight at first. Most sit and gos, even non-turbos, the blinds go up so fast you have to play loose.

I've started playing a little looser in the tournaments I play in early on. Got 78o and everyone is just calling the big blind, call it. Maybe I flop a straight or a straight draw even or a pair or two. There are a lot of hands that I can catch a flop with and be in a dominant position. I've found that this has really improved my place in the money percentage significantly. I don't risk a lot of chips, if someone raises I fold these generally crap hands, but if I can get in cheap I'll see a flop, if I miss, I'm out without significant damage. I tighten up in the middle of the tournament when the blinds start to hurt. And I'm still too tight in the late stages of the tournament, when the blinds are really painful and I need to protect and build my chip stack, but I'm working on that.

Franky I'm the same way, when I'm chip leader in an sng when the blinds are like 30/60, you know the game will go another hr and a half b/c I'm not going to put my chips at risk a lot. I want to make sure that 1) i place in the tourney and 2) if i surrender my chip lead hen it's because I was outdrawn but I played the hand well

I just play my cards and avoid big raises unless I really like my hand alot.My chip stack will dictate my play more than if its early or late.

I played a two table sit and go and played my first table very tight and made 1 bluff at 50/100 blinds and went into the final table with 1900 chips. at this point i decided it was time to make a serious move( it was a pl tourney however). So anytime i saw i decent hand with anykind of short to medium stack in the blinds i raised the pot or close to it. By the time 7 people were left and blinds were at 150/300 i was a dominate chip leader and raising literally every and took down so many pots without showing my cards. sheer agression made me a huge chip leader but unfortunately i got outdrawn a couple of times headsup and took second. I think it starts when the chip leader has right around 20 calls but that is just my opinion. At this point every1 feels on the short stack and plays like it.

They play scared and like many of you have said before scared chips are easy chips!