Let me discuss what is in my opinion the secret to winning MTT poker. It evades many of us and is a fine art which must be honed but is the key to becoming a winner in the tables. Aggression...

During the first few years of playing I followed the rules of playing poker. I read a few books, and played ABC poker. The better players I spoke to discussed things like "playing the player not the cards" and "the cards you have are irrelevant" but I just did not understand what they meant.

It is common to be at the table late in an MTT cursing your hole cards, just waiting for the great opportunity to double up, 'just one hand and we can make the final table', only to see your blinds dwindle and your 'M' factor being so low that when you finally find the elusive big hand you have and have no fold equity, get called and muffed by T7. I know, I have been there, many times.

I don't remember what clicked in my game or when it clicked but I know it did. My mentor in poker is one of the most aggressive in the game and naturally that rubbed off on me. I found aggression, not out and out knuckle head, dumb ass, shove your chips in the middle and hope for the best, but measured small ball poker which will see your stack increase gradually throughout the tourney with very little risk.

You can pretty much guarantee if you are sat at the same table as me I will be the most aggressive player at the tables, I will be the guy pounding on your blinds while you are waiting on your pretty cards. I can honestly say I am in my absolute comfort zone raising junk hands; I delight in getting dealt 83 off suit in position as I know this is going to be the easiest hand in the world to play. If folded to me I am going to open the pot with a raise in the region of 2.5x, I may even re raise a positional raiser, and I have the easiest fold in the world if I am re-popped.

The only time my heart rate increases is when I am dealt the premium hands as I know my tourney life is now on the line as I have a hand which I am probably committed to.

I will start ramping up my aggression when the blinds are significant enough to make a worthy addition to my stack; this is often around the time the antes kick in. In the ideal world on a passive table you really can push your stack forward to a prominent position and rarely find any resistance.