Quick Answer Poker tournaments are a different beast from cash games. After logging over 1,000 hours across buy-ins from $5 to $200, the single most important lesson is this: survival beats aggression early, and controlled aggression wins late. Most beginners bust in the first hour because they play too many hands, chase marginal draws, or get bored and make moves they shouldn't. This guide walks you through a practical, stage-by-stage approach to stack preservation and blind stealing. Step 1: Play Tight Early (First 3-4 Levels) What to do: In the first 45-60 minutes of a tournament, only enter pots with starting hands in the top 12-18% range. From early position, tighten that to 12-15%; from the button, you can loosen to around 25% if the table is passive. Why it matters: Early blinds are tiny relative to your stack. A common starting stack is 10,000 chips with blinds at 50/100. Losing 1,000 chips on a marginal hand early sets you back 10% of your stack with no pressure to recover.…