I am Brian and so is my wife!

I am going to challenge two very large assumptions in EARLY ROUND NLHE tournament play.

1. You always want to be in control of the hand by betting, pushing and being generally aggressive. This forces players to REACT to you.

2. The GAP principle applies in early rounds.

A new way of thinking:

1. In the EARLY stages of a tournament (say level 1 or 2), it is much better to judge the strength of your opponents hands and make the maximum amount of money by calling players down. Too many players are too loose and too aggressive.

2. The GAP principle is INVERSE in early rounds. You want to try and hit a big hand vs. a pre-flop raiser because players are trying too hard to play big pots. If you miss, you fold. If you hit, you let him bet off his chips.