Opinions on "How to play well with a big stack" in a MTT

[JGlo]

I have read alot on the MTT forum about players who play well with a big stack in a MTT. I have played for about a year and played in several MTT's ($5 to $100 buy-ins, mostly $10 to $30)and have had varied results. THe times that I have gotten a big stack it was mostly the result of good cards and me benefiting from poor decisions by my opponents. I wish I could say it was from my excellent and deceptive play, but I know what stage I am at, and I usually need a good run of cards to make it into the $$ in a 300+ tourney. My question is, at what point are you considered the big stack? Is it that you are $1,000 ahead of everyone at table, 50% greater than everyone at the table, 300% etc ? And when you get to this point, do you raise aggresively with marginal hands, stick to your normal preflop selection and just raise more aggressively, raise every hand? I understand why this is important, just not sure of what the proper technique is. It almost seems to me that when you get a big stack, you protect it, build upon it with solid play and use it more aggressively later in the tourney.
I hope this post makes sense. Any opinions would be appreciated.

[bholdr]

IMO, anytime you have more money than anyone else at the table, you are the big stack, any time you have more than twice as much money as the next largest stack, it's time to go nuts; having a big stack is a big advantage, use it. push people around a lot, make it clear that if they call you they had better be ready to get it all in. steal a lot of blinds, buy a lot of pots, etc...

as for specific techniques, browse the MTT forum for clues, and steal moves from the better posters. whenever i manage to get a large stack in a tourney (i rarely play tournaments, but i tend to do pretty well when i do) i go totally nutso-aggressive, any time i think my opponents are weak, i set 'em in, any time i hold an ace, i'll push against a small stack. when i'm on the bubble (just about to make the money) i try to steal a ton of pots (sometimes as many as half of them). i'm probably too aggressive, but my goal in a tournament isn't usually just to make it into the money, i wanna win the whole damn thing.

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And when you get to this point, do you raise aggresively with marginal hands, stick to your normal preflop selection and just raise more aggressively, raise every hand?

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when i play in a NLHE tournament with a reasonable structure, i play AQs, AKo, AKs, and wired tens or better (except, of course, in the blinds, which is a whole different animal, or when i'm bluffing). when i have a big stack, i'll open up a lot, playing down to ATo and a pair of sevens or better. i am always super aggressive with whatever hand i play, big stack or not.