Implied Odds and SnG's

[Rondavu]

I'm sure someone has thought of this before, but I'll throw it out there anyway. There are a lot of people who are against relaxing your starting hand requirements at the beginning of a SnG. I've always disagreed with it. I think of it as cowardly and lacking in post flop confidence.

The logic behind being tight is supposedly that the blinds are too small to steal, people will knock each other out, and wait to play against the better players to have better reads and not get sucked out. So many people advocate being Mr. Tight Cheeks for these reasons.

Here's why I strongly disagree... First of all, my style is to see a lot of flops. That is what got me onto this track. It has made me into a pretty decent post flop player since I'm there a lot. My logic is that your implied odds are through the roof early in a SnG. Not only are stacks towering over the blinds and 2x raises, but you also have 3 or 4 loose players who will give you a whole stack on a draw if you flop something sweet. It's almost a crime not to be taking advantage of this.

It's very valuable to have leverage early in a tournament. If you play your implied odds and hit nice, you'll get a nice 2 or 2.5 stack just as all the true fish make an exit. Pushing people around now will grant you an even bigger stack later when the blinds force the table into a tight image.

What does everyone think of this? Why do you or do you not take advantage of obviously outstanding implied odds early in a sit and go?

[RHCNNN]

I agree completely with you. Seeing a lot of flops for cheap in the beginning of tournaments has been wonderful for me. Often people don't protect their hands and let you draw to straights and flushes for very cheap. And alot of the time you will get paid off big... most SnGs have some jerkoff who goes out with top pair no kicker in the first 3 hands, and he's the perfect candidate to double you up early.