and i play at pacific, but do most of my playing at $5/10 short handed SNGs.

so this may only be applicable there, but i try to find out the other player's comfort zone. many of the above postings are things i've found at this level; they are:

-> if you're always raising the SB, my opponents tend to get threatened, and will always call, and then start doing it back to me. i dunno...so, i'll fold a few hands early if they're trash, or even just call with some non-trash, so it seems more friendly.
-> if the first hand, he min-raises, i will ALWAYS call. no matter what cards i have. i don't want him to think i'll flop to raises. and if he checks the flop, i'll bet 1/3-1/2 pot. again, no matter what 2 hands.
-> i try to find their comfort zone early so i can take advantage of it later in HU. find out how big a raise to get an auto-fold, do they always call a re-raise, etc. my ideal situation is to have them offbalance and then flop a near-nut hand or great drawing hand, and then switch gears.

for example...
if i call on flop, check on turn and he overbets all the time when i check - well, the one time i HAVE hit my hand, i'll do the same actions. he'll overbet, i'll have him pot committed, and either get back into things or cripple him.

it's either take a little, take a little, take a little and/or hit the big hands, while avoiding the traps he sets for you.