Home Game advice please.

[SnoT_III]

So here is my dilemma. Every saturday where I live there is a pretty big tournament going on around town. The stakes are low (16$) and most of the people there go to drink beer and have a good time, however, there are a few good players.
We start with 10,000 in chips and the blinds go up every 15 minutes in this structure.
25/50
50/100
100/200
200/400
300/600
400/800
500/1000
600/1200 etc, etc, etc, 1000/2000, 2000/4000.
Sometimes the hands go pretty slow, because people don't pay attention and plus we have to shuffle in between every hand, so we don't get as many hands in for the 15 minutes as we should.

We are normally 5 or 6 handed and have around 30 to 40 players every week.

How would you play in a tournament like this? How much do I have to loosen up my starting requirements since it is so short handed? Do you think the blinds force me to build a stack early or do they seem to be ok? I have been playing at these places like I should at a normal table and I know it's hurting me. I always get up to 15-20000k in the first hour, but by that time someone has a rediculous chip stack of like 80,000 and then the blinds start going up so fast I have to try and steal blinds or push all-in to build some chips.

Should I stick to my tight style? I play any pp, suited aces, and any two face cards. Should I play A9 and just be careful when I hit the ace? I'm tired of just getting ITM and not taking down first place because I don't have the chips to do so.

Thanks

[SnoT_III]

Does anyone have some advice for me? If nothing more than what hands to play at a lag/lp shorthanded table.

[gabe]

yes!
are you using two decks? that will make it go faster because one of them can be shuffled during a hand and used on the following hand. also, if you want it to be less of a crapshoot and more a skillfull thing, the blinds are going to have to go up slower. if the structure isn't changed, then just play tight at the beginning and very very aggressive when the blinds get up higher and on the bubble.

[SnoT_III]

Good idea with two decks at the table. I'll probably buy some to bring to the place tomorrow. So when do you suggest starting to play very aggresive? When the blinds hit somewhere around 700-1400? or sooner?

I know how most of the people play since I play there so often, so I was thinking of loosening my starting hands a lot when I hve position and just trying to pick up as many pots as possible. The only thing is, it's hard to get people to fold unless you bet a sick amount. Common raises when the blinds are 25/50 are like 500 chips. This one guy will raise like 2000 with any pocket pair and then bet the flop hard no matter what. It's a crazy place to play.

[gabe]

be aggressive when the blinds are very high compared to your stack (like when your stack is only 10bb or so). when it is this high, you just want to be gonig allin preflop. also do this against people with less chips than you, so they will be afraid to call you except with their best hands.