No limit hold'em poker is a strategy game in which you need to be very appreciative about which hands you play. It's not the volume of hands you play, it's the quality of the hands that you play and the likelihood of each of them being profitable. When it gets right down to it, the hands you play must be winners. Now of course you need someone to pay you off when you do play, but forbearance is a very important skill and a foundation mindset of some of the most winning tournament players in the history of the game. You need to know more than calculating poker odds and understanding poker rules to win these days.
By keeping a close mark on the play even when you aren't in the hand, you will be able to pinpoint opportunities to get involved, even without good hands. They too can be juicy, winning hands.Picking spots against weaker players can lead to huge wins, given their propensity for misplays. because of these hands, you will be mixing up your play sufficiently enough to throw off virtually any antagonists. You will still earn respect when you bet, but you won't be so decipherable to invite steady aggressive plays against you. The ideal situation here, is that you will be catching your opponents off guard when you have a strong hand and they do not.
Discipline is very important in no limit hold'em poker tournaments. Take all the time you need to be sure you know what you are doing before getting involved in a pot that will too big to turn away from. Overconfidence, or anxiety will often lead you into the lion's den, if you don't take a few extra moments to think things through. An outstanding rule of thumb is to count ten seconds before you resolve what to do - even if you are very sure.
The toughest plays in poker tournaments usually involve you folding. We all know how that feels. Nobody wants to feel like a mouse getting scared back into the corner of the house after a big reraise by an aggressive opponent. But if it's too early in the tournament, and your tournament chips stack is still yet Green Mzone, then that is very likely exactly what you should be doing unless you know you have the best hand. It takes a huge commitment to winning this game in order to fold the challenging hands, and it's one of the strongest aspects of the game to learn. However, once you understand, you will know how to win poker tournaments.
When you are able to merge this type of patience, discipline and commitment to your game, you will start to make more and more final tables, steady cashes, and more and more correct plays, which will result, at least he eventually, in profitable results. I guarantee it.