Big tourneys last a long time

As mentioned in an earlier post, I've been trying Poker Stars for the past 3 months, mainly because their multi-table tourneys are huge.

I've hit the money in a couple of them, but my best finish was 3rd out of about 1,200 entrants. The only downside is that it was a lousy $1 buy in tourney, so I only ended up winning $160, but part of the reason for playing these huge tourneys is simply to get experience playing the big tourneys where serious money can be made. In the couple dozen big tourneys I've played, I've really learned to become patient, to play quality hands, and to always spot for what I like to call "free money," which is basically any situation in which you may not have the best hand, but everyone else is pretty weak also, so just by showing strength you take down a pot that you may not have won otherwise. The downside to this occurs when someone is showing weakness when they actually have a hand and were looking to trap someone; in this case, you. So long as you don't let ego get in the way and you're able to drop those hands that will probably not be able to win, you should be fine.