Staying above the clouds

I've figured out how to do well in MTTs. Unfortunately, I don't have any kind of recipe, or practical advice. The goal is easy to state, but there aren't any concrete steps I can enumerate which will guarantee success. What you need to do is stay above the clouds. By that I mean you must always have enough chips to be able to fold at any time. By having one of the largest stacks, you can pick your own fights, and stay away from any fights your opponents are trying to pick with you.

Last night I played two MTT 8-games. The first one was a bust, but I came in second in the second one. I stayed above the clouds most of the time. Understandably, I was very pleased with my play; however, it could definitely have been improved upon. Most notably, I made a major mistake when we got down to three handed play. Playing Limit Stud, I got confused and thought I was playing Limit Stud Hi/Lo. When I made the nut low on the river, which was also a five high straight, I bet it out, believing I had a chance to scoop the whole pot. I lost to a higher straight. Pretty stupid, I know. Luckily for me, there's no such thing as no limit stud :-) I would have finished in third place for sure if there were.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

  4500       500           6        84    31        0
  4500       500           6       225     2    60630

delta: $50,630
MTT 8-game balance: $54,410
balance: $9,549,440