Right my question is i play alot of micro/low buy in MTTs i usually start off very well in the 1st 60mins usually having 3/4x the average chips in play but i dont know whether im tightening up too much cos im just cruising into min cash then not getting much further? Should i be taking more gambles with my stack before this stage i/e try and get a monster stack i see alot of strange calls with marginal hands by good players are they just taking these gambles with there tournament life and big stacks because they know if they get a massive stack they can exploit it later on and go deep? Any feedback would be appreciated thanks

I take most of my gambles a little before mincash bubbles around where the antes start to get that monster stack. Generally you should open up when antes kick in, not tighten up. a 3-4x avg stack is meaningless early on if you're gonna sit pretty on it until it dwindles away.

put pressure at yours opponents at baubble (especcialy if you are bigstack)...

What do you mean by that? Going for flips and stuff? What do you actually change?

I actually have the same problem. I get lots of min cashes or near final table in large field mtts but I just cant make it to the end. I'm pretty sure I have a hole somewhere in my late game strategy. I try to 3bet light post antes but I always get called...
Any thoughts on min 3betting? Could be more profitable than 3betting to 2.5x or so. Guess it depends on V's stack as well.

ya, I play super aggro and don't shy away from variance. I play the <20BB stack very loose but in all-in fashion, sometimes taking slight -cEV spots.

then 3bet lightER for value. not a polarized range but value hands. like if they're flatting your 3bets with KJs and 77-type hands then start 3betting KQs and 99 for value.

vs people who fold 3bet a polarized range.

@OP, not sure what you mean by 'gamble'. If you mean make an unprofitable play in order to attain a big stack, then no, you shouldn't. So many people ask this sort of thing and the answer is always the same - make the most profitable decision at each juncture. I'm also guessing your sample size is really small and this is probably standard variance.

@AKA47, Don't 3b light vs people who don't fold.

i guess pretty much every non MTT reg struggles with the same problem!
when it gets to the mid/late stages of a tournament the structure dictates a different approach to the game. given avg. stacksizes vary more between 20-35bb instead of 50bb+ like in the early stages, many players don't adjust to the inevitable table dynamics, stack-sizes, shoving/calling ranges etc. mostly resulting in playing too tight and therefore diminishing your chip-stack which results in a worse opportunity to exploit other player's tendencies given you just can't maneuver a 20bb stack for optimal strategic decisions in many many spots (post-flop for example)!

yeah but you're super loose even with >20bb

I think you have to pick spots, and go with reads on your villians, I think SB had a read on me.

I'm not promoting the idea of shoving 114BB in with A9s, but this table was so loose, I couldn't beleive some of the crap they were showing up with, when this hand happened.

[converted_hand][hand_history]Poker Stars, $1 Buy-in (50/100 blinds) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite. View Hand #13424852

BTN: 2,185 (21.9 bb)
SB: 5,875 (58.8 bb)
BB: 11,020 (110.2 bb)
UTG: 9,850 (98.5 bb)
MP: 2,400 (24 bb)
Hero (CO): 11,470 (114.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9 A
UTG calls 100, MP folds, Hero raises to 222, BTN calls 222, SB raises to 5,875 and is all-in, BB calls 5,775, UTG folds, Hero raises to 11,470 and is all-in, BTN calls 1,963 and is all-in, BB calls 5,145 and is all-in