3rd Place Finish

Tonight, I played in 2 45 player SNG's.  I was knocked out quickly in the first, but managed to take down 3rd place in the second for just over $7.   My bankroll is now at $60.21. 
I have adjusted my strategy in the 45 player SNG's.  I have been not been playing anything but premium hands until the BB is at least 100.  This seems to be the level when my opponents seem more willing to let me take down the blinds uncontested.  If it is folded to me in late position, I will raise with A8 or better, any pocket pair, or any 2 cards higher than a J.  I typically raise 3-4 times the BB.  If I take down the blinds, fine.  If the blinds choose to defend, I play carefully after the flop, trying not to put a large percentage of my stack at risk unless I flop big.  At this point in the tournament, the strategy is to build up a stack without getting involved in too many big pots.  Try to pick up small pots uncontested whenever possible.
In the later levels when the blinds are huge, if I have enough chips to wait out the other players, I will just wait for them to knock each other out.  As we approach the money, I try not to get involved with any opponent who can bust me.  During this middle stage of the tournament, the strategy is survival.  Avoid playing any pots with the middle and larger stacks unless you are short stacked.
Once we reach the money, the game changes entirely.  I will take  more risks and try to find spots to steal.  I will put pressure on the smaller stacks and force them to have a hand if they want to get involved.  At this point in the tournament, the goal is to move up the pay ladder.  Gaining chips however you can so that you will have a decent stack when it reaches heads up is key to giving yourself a chance at first place.  I have found myself using the "stop and go" play quite often at this late stage of play. 
If you are unfamiliar with the "stop and go"  play, it goes like this:  You are in one of the blinds. A player raises your blind. You have a hand you want to play, but your stack is such that if you reraise, the raiser will be pot committed and forced to call.  In this case, you just call the raise and push in after the flop NO MATTER WHAT COMES on the flop.  More often than not, the flop will be unfavorable to the original raiser and he will fold.   Example:  You have 12 BB's left and you are in the BB with 88.  A middle position player raises to 4 times the BB.  If you reraise him and move all in, he will getting 2:1 and will correctly call.  He will get to see all 5 board cards.  If you just call and then push in after the flop, many times he will have missed the flop and he only gets to see the 3 flop cards instead of all 5 board cards.  What if the board is unfavorable to your pocket 8's (Example: J93)?  It doesn't matter.  Push all in no matter what the flop looks like.  Most of the time, your opponent will have missed.  Think about his range of raising hands:  AK, AQ, KQ, TT, etc.  This flop is unfavorable to most the hands he would raise with.  What if the flop is AK3?  PUSH IN ANYWAY!!  Maybe he has QJ, TT, KQ,  or a weak Ace.  He is not going to like your push on the flop with any of these hands.  Of course, if he hits the flop, he will call, but in the long term, making this play will push him off of more hands than he will hit with.  The "stop and go" is an effective tool that any serious tournament player should have in his arsenal.