These are all good, yet complicated questions. I know how I play, but I don't know how easy it will be for me to describe it.
In a typical MTT........
The opportunity rarely presents itself, but when it does, I'm willing to take some fairly big risks in the first orbit or so of the tourney (I realize this goes against standard advice - but it's how I play). This doesn't mean I play garbage - it means I am ultra-aggressive when I do play a hand. People make some crazy calls early on when the fish are all still alive, and I try to exploit that, just like I owuld in a rebuy tourney. If I end up losing with a monster, so be it. At least I didn't waste hours and hours to finish on the bubble (I am not a believer in Brian's strategy of trying to get a lot of play time in, regardless of not making any money - that's what the play money tables are for). Conversly, if you take down a big pot early, it's really nice. When that happens, I IMMEDIATELY tighten up. BTW, no way would I play in the WSOP like this. This is more for smaller online tourneys, where it's not a huge deal if I'm the first one to bust out. In a big tourney, the early stages are all about survival. Survival just happens to be a lot easier when you start off with twice as many chips as everyone else. I also find it's good for your table image, and then you can immediately change gears.
Most of how I play the middle parts of the tournament has to do with my stack size in relation to the rest of my table. With a big stack, I'll push people around. With a small stack, I become extremely patient and look to double up. Overall though, I'm trying to accumulate chips, hoping to end each level with more than I started with. I find that if you are patient and don't force it, this isn't all that hard to do. The winning hands will come.
In the later stages, things start to get interesting. Approaching the bubble, you can accumulate a LOT of chips by being the aggressive guy. Don't be reckless, of course, but do be aggressive.
Generally speaking............
Make big laydowns. Especially preflop. You have a slightly below average stack and are dealt 88. An EP player raises. Push in and make your stand? Hell no. Why risk your entire tourney on a coindlip (if you are lucky)? Just throw it away. You've got time. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see people make. They are willing to risk all of their chips when they don't need to. Wait for a better spot. BE the aggressor.
Make continuation bets. You can't win a tourney if you only bet when the flop helps you. Continuation bets are crucial.
Change gears. Play fast. Play slow. Mix it up depending on your table conditions and especially your table image. Generally, you want to play opposite the rest of the table.
For your specific scenarios, "it depends." Typically, I like to see a lot of cheap flops. I also like to be the aggressor in almost every hand I play. First one in, raise. Limpers in front of you, call. Raise in front of you - be very careful... Reraise with monsters, fold trouble hands (AJ), and call with anything you will be comfortable playing after the flop (wired pairs are extremely easy to play after the flop, for example). Position is crucial, obviously. I won't even go into all of that.
I see no sense in trying to steal blinds early on. People won't fold. But later on, when your raise becomes a more significant portion of the blinds' stacks, you can steal a LOT more... Know your opponents though, and don't try it every time. Let them know you are capable of folding on the button or the SB with no one in front of you. This will give you a little more respect with your steals. You don't HAVE to try to win them all. I think it's better to let a few go if it lowers your chances of resistance later on. Plus, when someone does come over the top of one of your steal attempts later, there's a good chance they have a big hand and aren't just playing back at you.
I know this was very general, but there are entire books written to discuss this. A guy can only do so much with one post. Very specific question probably each deserve their own thread.
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