I played in my first live poker tournament this evening. I have quite a bit of online experience, but this was my first time in a live action tourney in a casino.
The game was no-limit hold 'em, with a $90 buy in. 55 players entered, top 6 got paid. For the first hour and half or two hours, I couldn't get anything going. I was donating my blinds every time around, and eneded up with around half of my original stack of chips at the first break.
After the break, I knew I was in a tight spot. The blinds were large enough that I could only afford to pay the blinds three or four times. I started playing VERY aggressively and winning pots. Next thing I know, I have turned my 2000 chips into 75,000 chips and the lead.
With only four us of left in the tourney, and me in the lead, we negotiated a nice split and left some money in the kitty for us to continue to play for. I ended up finishing in second place, taking home over $1100!