Over the weekend I played in a Sit & Go Hold’em poker tournament and I’m always surprised to see players making the same mistake again and again. This mistake, which seems to be one of the most common in Sit & Go tournaments, is that players go all in too soon, busting out before the tournament has even begun.

The reasoning behind a lot of players’ decision to double up early in the game is simple– they want to take the chips from their opponents ASAP. The problem is, more often than not the strategy backfires and they are out of the game in the first round. Early on in tournament play your objective should be to stay in the game, plain and simple. Don’t start worrying about offensive strategy, taking the other players chips, until you have made it through to later tournament rounds.

The best way to avoid making this mistake is to play conservatively for the first few rounds of the tournament. Raise only on very good hands and don’t be afraid to fold if it will spare you a bigger loss. After all, it is important to remember that in tournament play everyone starts with the same bankroll and if you start running out of money you can’t buy back in or add to your bankroll. You have to make the most of what you have. It is more important to play it safe early on. You can always bring out the big guns later in the game.