MTT: Building A Stack

I've been playing poker for awhile now and I figure I know my way around a poker table. I've ripped through my fair share of books and online forums and I've played a TON of poker both live and online in the 2 years that I have been playing. 45 man SNG's used to be my bread and butter. I used to know when and how to change gears along with other little intricasies of timing in these 45 SNGs, but I've taken a liking to the large 1000+ person tournaments. Needless to say i find myself lost sometimes.

A little more information before I get to the point, because in poker it's all important, is that my bankroll isn't huge so I'm looking at playing mostly $5,$3,and $2 large MTT's. I have cashed in many and I've gone deep in a few and won 2 already, so I have some experience here.

Where I find myself stumbling a lot is starting the tournament, the first hour and a half. I've played tight and had the blinds kill me when we near the bubble and most of the time I can squeak in. I'm not satisfied with that anymore, I want to have a good stack going into the 3rd and 4th hour but I fail to grasp all the concepts to do this.

I try to play tight, and play aggressive with my premium hands, trying to keep odds and variance in my favor. But, more often than not, this can cost me 1/3 my stack with small blinds when hands like K8 call my AK and call me down when they turn/river 2 pair.

Each time that I have had a big stack it seems that I have hit a great run of cards and got paid off. I also won a few tight hands where I'd have to dodge a flush and straight. (I'm rarely on the end with all or most of my chips on the line with a draw, unless short stacked on a semi-bluff) That is just to get my stack to slightly above average. To get my stack up to one of the big stacks I need to win a big hand and take out or double up on another stack as big as mine.

What types of strategies are you going into a large field tournament with?? I know there are a few really good MTT players here, so I figure I've come to the right place.

I dont think your problem is in the first hour and a half. Thats where you play tight and try to build off your premium hands. It's pretty much cut and dried, good players won't screw that part up often. But when the blinds start to have value is where you must loosen up and you must start making some steals and semi-bluffs or you are looking at just inside the money or less.

Take notice of how many BBs you have, and how many BBs the average stack has. When you find the point where blinds are worth a steal thats when you loosen up your hand requirements and look more to position and situations where you are likely to take down the hand without seeing the river.

You can't lean so heavily on waiting for premium hands anymore, you need to get in the action and take some chips. If you havent been loosening up, you make look like a fish at first expieramenting when to loosen up, make a bluff or play a little loose. But when you do it enough you start to get a natural gut feeling of when these times present themselves. You'll realize who is playing tight and you will push on them.

You have to get agressive or you will be at the mercy of the cards.