[AaronBrown]

I call when the pot odds justify it, which means I call at less than 50/50.

I understand the theoretical argument that the extra chips you might win are worth less than the chips you might lose, and also that if you are an above average player its worth sacrificing EV to stay alive and collect the EV from your superior play. If this were the only poker I'd ever play and my life were at stake, those considerations would matter. But if I take this bet and lose, I'll go exercise my positive EV in another game.

Other factors to consider is by being aggressive early, you can win chips against worse players than you will face at the final table. Also, someone known to be willing to gamble will induce more folds and cooperation from the good players. Finally, unwillingness to be aggressive (especially turning down 60% and 70% chances with better than 1 to 1 payouts) will be exploited quickly by other players.

In general, I feel people get too far away from standard EV play in a tournament. When you turn down a +EV bet, you generally end up having to take the same risk later, at worse or even negative EV.

Waiting around for other people to either kill themselves or do your work for you sounds like smart tournament play. In my experience it rarely gets you into the money. I know a lot of people disagree with that.