[fnurt]

In a big tournament, doubling your stack will almost exactly double your chances of winning, until you get to the point where you start to have a significant percentage of the chips in play.

You need to accumulate chips to win a tournament, and there is no way to accumulate chips without risk. Some people have this fantasy that you can build your stack just by picking up small pots and avoiding showdowns. While that sometimes works out, it's an illusion to think it is a risk-free strategy. If there were a risk-free way to accumulate chips, you wouldn't see so many pros bust out on the first day of the WSOP.

If you are an average player in the field, your chance of doubling up before busting is 50%. If you are better than average, your chance is still unlikely to be much better than that, unless the field is comprised of morons.

So you start with 2500 chips. At some point on the road to victory, you will need to have 5000 chips. Do you stand a better chance to get 5000 chips by calling this bet, or by folding and trying to build your stack from 1500 to 5000? The answer is the former, and it's not close.

Arguments like "don't put your tournament life on the line" are for people who don't understand poker. I'm not saying you need to take every 51-49 edge for all your chips, but when you are a significant favorite, you must be willing to risk a loss if you expect to be a winning tournament player. You simply don't get the nuts enough to wait for them.