The first ever poker book i got was one of Ken Warrens, and the very first excerise that i done was as follows, cant find the page to quote from so bear with me. It was a teaching excerise about drawing to a flush with one card to come.
Now while its great to look at the odds on a book or on your screen i found this excerise actually made me realise the difference that pot odds make.
Get a pack of cards and some chips.
Deal yourself a flush draw and 1 oppenent a made straight on the turn, bet one chip each on the outcome of the river card , and note how how many chips you win/lose after you deal out the FULL DECK.
Repeat this excerise with 3 4 and 5 players respectively.
Note the pot increases each time you add an extra player, even though your odds of winning stay the same, this is POT ODDS
Note the situations when you lose money -EV, break even, and win +EV.
This is basic basic stuff but its what gave me the start, when it comes to NL tourneys I play exactly the same, if i feel that i have the best hand, ill put all my chips in. I lose a lot, but i also win a lot, (Ive paid for myself and Tracys ski holiday so far this year solely from poker). Its not about just one game, tourney or not, its about one big long
poker game, and if your not prepared to play the odds you will never be a long term winner.
On Wednesday i over bet with QQ into K2, and got sucked out, but that didnt bother me because i had the best hand at the time.
Hope this helps, and i hope that ive got this post fairly accurate.