Now this is something I don't understand. I always hear people say you have to build a huge stack up front. But in all my experience (just a year hehehe) every time I see a huge stack, It's usually busted before the bubble. The huge stack usually comes from the fool that thinks you need a monster stack so they sit there and bluff left and right, take unnecessary risks going all in or huge on a draw or some crappy hand, against a good player who is not gonna take the risk, then end up getting trapped and then ...DONE. Yeah I'm sure not everyone loses their whole stack, but whenever I'm in a tourney online, I always look whose up front early, and they are usually not there in the end. Then look at the WSOP coverage, at all the guys who "had the tremendous chip lead" especially early...done. I have placed pretty deep in a few tourneys, and I have won some huge donkfest freerolls of 5000+ and only once...in a smaller tourney (150or less players) did I have a large chip lead. Yeah its great to have a chip lead, but when there are still 5000+ people in front of you, it just doesnt matter that much.
It doesnt matter THAT much, THAT early in a tournament. Thats true.
But if you look at the payouts of a normal online MTT. Where is the big money? At the Final Table/In top 3 spots!
So why playing for in the money, playing to survive etc..??
Because of such a structure, you have to play BIG, you have to go for TAKE IT DOWN! ANd that means, at some point in the tourney, you have to accumulkate a LOT of chips, so that your stack is "playable" at the final table.
So, the difference to cashgames is so obvious here, you just have to play looser/bluff more in MTT's.
And playing like that doesnt mean that you have to loose your stack that fast again. If you play it smart, its definately possible to take some risks (to knock shortstacks out) without risking your stack. If you are able to play "bully-style" with your stack, theres no reason to loose it that fast again, only if you "gamble it away"..