[ansky451]

In general it seems at least once a day, someone asks: "To anyone who has won a tournament, what does it take to win? How can I go from a winning cash game player to winning mtts?"

Although it is important in all forms of poker, I beleive knowing your opponent is of the most importance in tournament poker. Knowing what he/she is capable of in a given circumstance is a must for commanding your table late in a tournament. Watching every single hand can be boring, but it definitely will be a huge help later when you have a really important decision. I have button raised with jacks, and folded to an all in getting a decent price, because I knew my opponent was scared and way too tight and would only play an overpair that way, and NOT AK. I have also called a resteal with junk like a7o getting a really sh*tty price because I knew my opponent was itching to play back at my abuse of his blinds.

In a cash game, if you make a mistake against a player you can lose your stack, reach back into your pocket and buy in again. In a tournament if you make a crucial mistake, you cant buy back into a tournament, and hours of work can be flushed down the toilet just like that. I have much better results in high buy in tournaments because I usually only play 1 at a time, and watch the action closely. I dont usually do as well if im 3 tabling 20 or 30 dollar tournaments- despite the worse competition (although I have found the difference is players isn't as big as one would expect.)