MTT play style

A

AcesFullOfDonks

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Dec 27, 2015
Total posts
65
Chips
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Hey guys, it's been a while since I've posted on here and I'm looking for some advice.
Recently started going to my local casino at the weekends to play one of the weekly tournaments. I've done alright so far, out of 50ish people, placing 10th, 11th and 28th (bad beat for 28th but I'm not sour, it happens).

I'll start out by giving the tournament details for a clearer idea of what the structure is.
$25 buy in, 1 rebuy available.
Starting stack: 20,000 (500 extra for early bird).
Blind and ante levels (20 minutes per level):
25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200
150/300 (25)
200/400 (25)
300/600 (50)
500/1000 (75)
750/1500 (100)
1000/2000 (200)
1500/3000 (400)
2000/4000 (400)
2500/5000 (500)
3000/6000 (750)
4000/8000 (1000)
5000/10000 (1500)

Here's my dilemma:
These are tables of 9 people, 90% of whom are regs and play against each other all the time, be it cash or tournament.
I've observed most of these players and they all (bar a handful) play fairly loose-passive, even OOP. Obviously I've tightened up my game and advocate a TAG/NIT style of play against such a limpy table.
However, I have noticed that it's generally the same people who end up with large stacks. These are also the people playing a loose-passive game. They're playing fit/fold poker post flop when the blinds are low and antes aren't involved, hoping to hit a big hand that will get them paid. And it's working for them quite well.
I've been playing PP, SC and suited Aces (IP obviously) and premiums only. These hands don't come around often and when I'm playing them, raising in position, I'm getting folds a lot of the time. These people don't want to be involved in raised pots with anything but PP and AK-AJ. So by raising I'm only picking up the low blinds which is hardly increasing my stack. (Later in the tournament people are defending their blinds a lot more).
Of the three times I've played in this tournament I've had a relatively short stack compared to the average. Chip leaders became bullies when blinds and antes were high.
Another thing of note, these loose-passive players tightened up their ranges as soon as their stacks became somewhat larger.
I trust my post flop game just enough to widen my range, so my question is, should I be willing to play much more loosely pre flop when blinds are tiny in relation to my stack or should I just stick to what I'm doing and probably be left with a short-average sized stack at best, where blinds and antes become an issue in the later stages?

All advice is appreciated and good luck at the tables ladies and gents!
 
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