Early Stage Strategy

The beginning of a tournament is the time to accumulate chips in order to gain a strong position in the game. In the early stages of a poker tournament you will normally have a lot of chips compared to the stakes. In other words you're not running the risk of getting anted or blinded out of the tournament. Consequently you can afford the luxury to wait for strong cards before getting heavily involved in the action. The best way to go is to play patient, solid poker and try to trap weaker players. Don't make any big gambles where you risk going broke in this stage of the tournament. If you play your cards wisely you will hopefully have a decent sized chips stack pretty soon.

Source: WSOP