Gave a tighter, more position-heavy approach a proper crack over the last couple of weeks in low stakes cash and a few small tournies, so figured I'd chuck up a quick review for anyone who's been spewing chips by playing too many hands early. I cut out most of the loose calls, stopped defending rubbish just because the price looked tempting, and paid way more attention to who was acting after me.
The biggest difference was pretty simple: fewer awkward spots. Sounds obvious, yeah, but it really cleaned things up. I wasn't ending up on the turn with second pair wondering what the bloody plan was. Pots were smaller when I was behind, and when I did hit something decent I usually had position or at least the betting lead, which made the hand way easier to play. Against passive players it felt especially solid.
What didn't happen though... instant money printer lol. It can feel a bit slow if the table is soft and everyone else is punting. A couple of sessions I folded for ages, got card dead, and kept thinking maybe I should be opening wider here. So I wouldn't call it some magic fix. If the blinds are nits and the table is weak, there's probably room to loosen up a touch and nick more small pots.
Main bits I rated were better starting hand selection, caring way more about position, and deciding earlier where a hand was probably done instead of talking myself into hero stuff later. Keen to hear what others reckon worked first when they started cleaning up their game — ranges, bet sizing, bankroll discipline, tilt, any of that.