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Have a healthy and watchful respect for strong-tight players who are rarely in hands, particularly if they play
hand out of position. If a player like this raises in early position you should fold all those marginal hands, and small pairs as well.
When weak players have entered
pot, you should be happy to call and take flops with them provided you can do this inexpensively. Slow playing big hands has a higher expected value in No-Limit than it does in Limit games where it is rarely
right way to play. That being said, it is a skill that takes a lifetime to master, and can easily backfire on you.
As
blinds increase in tournament play you must be flexible with your evaluation of starting hands as you have to keep your chip stack well ahead of
pace set by
blinds. In tournament play you cannot wait for
perfect starting hand, and frequently you need to make your own luck. Be selectively aggressive, especially in
later stages of
tournament. Initially you should be tight at least until you have a good read on some of
opponents at your table. Try to avoid coin-flip scenarios where all your chips are at stake. This happens all
time in online tournaments where players feel comfortable going all-in on AK and equally comfortable calling that hand with any pocket pair.
The winners of tournaments at all levels are usually those players who pace themselves early on, make a move in
middle stages of
event, and then start all over again at
final table by once again playing strong-tight.

Marc Weinberg is a poker fanatic and regular tournamanet player. For more interesting articles about playing online poker, visit http://www.online-poker-insider. Online Poker Insider guarantees online poker room deposits up to $500.