Momentum Strategy. Good or Bad?

[gamblerman]

Momentum strategy I find is interesting mainly because I think it has been subconsciously my dominant strategy in NLHE games. For those not familiar MS is when you play extremely tight when you first sit down at a table, basically trying to make sure you win the first one or two pots you play even if they may be smaller than what you would usually take down. The reason for this is that taking down a couple small pots off the bat, places you in a positive mindset similar to that of golf in which you concentrate on having a good drive off the first tee because it allows you to ride the momentum. I've noticed that when I have used MS the results have been good, possibly because the first small pots you take help release you of the initial tension and allow you to tap into your true potential game.

However for the pros MS has there are cons as well. By putting all your effort into the first few hands you play, an unlucky hit can destroy any hope of recovering which would kill your poker night pretty quick. Also, it requires the pass of certain opportunities which would at times be very profitable and tends to go against conventional aggression strategy of picking up pots and letting the accumulation of chips do the gambling.

So I decided to put it out to the forums. What do you think about MS? Solid strategy for consistent winning? Or recipe for disaster?

[gamblers]

I think it's a good strategy if you're the type that has to get off to a good start to be in the right frame of mind to play well. This is more of a mentality question than a hard strategic question. For me, I'd rather sit down and start playing my game, which is generally loose and aggressive. I do this knowing that I'm going to loose a lot of small pots, win a few small ones, and I'm hopefully setting up a big win somewhere down the line. But in the mean time I'm playing, I'm keeping my mind busy and focused on what I'm doing. For me, waiting just to be sure I win the first few pots would be a sure-fire way to let my mind drift from the game and the players in it.