importance of 3 betting late in mtt''s

I have been watching some established online players in mtt's lately and it seems they all have something in common. They 3-bet often if they are in the blinds or on the button and there has been a raise and no other callers. Looks so easy while you're watching. The hard part is when I actually try to do it myself. Problem#1- sometimes it is hard for me to part ways with that many chips not knowing if he will reraise me right back, which would really put the pressure on me wondering if i was up against kk or aa. Problem#2- if i'm in one of the blinds and I 3-bet someone and he just calls, I stand to lose a whole lot more bread trying a failed continuation bet on a flop. If I 3-bet out of position and get flat called, what types of hands should i put him on. Drawing hands, or middle pairs, or what? Question#1- is 3-betting late in tourneys hands down the key to getting to the final table? Should I just every once in a while just 3-bet people even if i don't have a great read if their bet is a steal or for value? Just because you have to to make it to final table. Question#2- should i just trust the percentages and say for example "out of 3 3-bets, I should get no resistance at least once and i should win with a continuation bet at least once to make the set of 3 3bets profitable"? or something along those lines? U know, kind of like continuation bets. Should I just keep firing away and hope for the best? I always appreciate your help! Thanks

What you're talking about is re-stealing blinds or at least attempting to. It's a tricky move sometimes depending on the people at the table. It is something you have to do to make the final table IF you're getting bullied around and getting pushed off of every blind steal attempt.

I usually get an average of one playable hand every 3 rounds or so (Late in a tourney I turn into a rock and only play premium hands until the final table). If you get about the same you'll do well to break even if you don't steal any blinds if the table has tightened up considerably. If the table isn't content to let you steal blinds then you have to steal by protecting when you're in BB position. Concede the steal attempt if you have an absolute horrible hand if you feel like you're going to get re-raised or called.

At this point it's not so much the chips you're fighting against as it is jockeying for table image and not looking like a pushover. Plus just as you worry that the person that flat called you is holding a monster, the same thing is true for yourself as well. Play monster hands like you're trying to steal blinds and don't be afraid to make them pay you off when they think you're trying to steal a pot.

I like mix up my play and use certain moves like this occasionally to throw other players off. I usually keep notes to see if they check the river how often they fold, etc...It helps me quite a bit.

This comes more with practice and getting to know the game well. You're probably missing some subtleties when the pros do it like stack sizes, position and reads they have on other players that you dont. What I mean by position is that when a player raises UTG the player is saying his hand is significantly strong, so unless you have a strong read that said player is capable of laying down a monster I wouldn't 3-bet air. If the dealer or CO raises than its safer to assume you can 3-bet but then again you need to look at the size of their stack. For example if the blinds are 10-20k and dealer 3x the blinds with 100k chips... you have no fold equity dont 3-bet unless you have a good hand, but if the dealer and you have say 500k+ then you can 3-bet with alot of FE because the player will know that you are playing for stacks on this hand.