Sorry for the long one here, but it's therapeutic:
My first live MTT was at The Stratosphere in Vegas a couple of years ago. I think it was a $45 buyin plus a $20 addon at the first break. I got some rest that afternoon and did some prep to get my head on straight about selective aggression.
I ran well and played aggressively, and began to feel good about myself as I chipped up. My best friend had just landed and called me twice to get updates, and I told him that it was going very well.
We were down to 16 or so of about 76 when people began calling for a chop, which seemed early but I was ok with the idea. The problem was some guy had left the tournament with a reasonable stack and the tourney boss said we had to wait until he was blinded away, since he couldn't vote on the chop.
Then an older gentleman was reseated two to my left in the BB, and the next hand was dealt. I watched him look at his cards and thought that he looked weak, and that I could probably steal with ATC. I tried to look at his stack but couldn't tell if he had me covered or not, and I didn't ask.
I looked down at Qc3c on the button and shoved with feigned confidence. However, that all faded when he turned to stare at me in an apparent soul read. I looked away, scared. It was suddenly clear that he was no tourist on his first trip to Vegas, like me. After five seconds or so he called and flipped up TT.
I missed the flop but turned a flush draw...and did not improve. He had me covered and I was out and extremely disappointed for having blown it on such a terrible hand, when I could've coasted into the money. Shortly after, a few more players busted, the absentee was blinded away, and the rest of them agreed on a chop where the leaders got a bonus.
So my first tourney experience was a lesson about...ahem...selective aggression, and having some reasonable
equity before getting your stack all-in near the bubble. I also learned that Vegas tournament grinders do not suffer fools lightly. :icon_joke :hmpf:
The same guy busted me again in a later tournament (another failed read), and we had a friendly exchange before I left Vegas. :shakehand