I am 18 year old english student. I have a lot of experience in 1-2$NL cash games and limited experience in 2-4$ NL cash games. I also do well in low buyin mtts. I have 10 000£ bankroll exclusively from poker and I have been playing for about 2 years. I qualfied to play in a live 6 man st tournament on tv (semi final) in copenhagen from a 5$ rebuy qualifier win with 50 odd players. Winner got place in final 2nd got 500£. I played a tight solid game and opened up at end and was lucky enough to win.

The final is in early June and is a 6 seater same as semi final. I have limited live experience also with only about 10-15 trips to casino under my belt. I have pretty good record live though despite small sample size. Prize structure is as follows

1st - 25000£ plus 2 ept seats and expenses
2nd-10 000£
3rd- 6000£
4th -3500£
5th- 1500£
6th- 1000£

Tournament structure can be best explained by terms deepstacked turbo. This allows for quite a lot of play and my semi final took 6 hours to complete.

50k starting chips blinds 100-200 but go up quickly etc.

Now my question. What is the best strategy to employ for me because each step up guarantees a big proportion increase to my bankroll. So I could play tight but this is what a lot of other players may feel and try to do. Is it best for me to play aggressive and go for first prize since with my bankroll when will I get another chance at 25k. Also what would you suggest as preparation for tournament in June. Unfortunately can't see other semi final heat winners as it is aired in denmark. I am reading HOH books as preparation and playing a bit down the casino. I am also playing a 300+20$ mtt tomorrow which is biggest I have entered so should be good practice. I suppose I have nothing to fear as very good players would not have entered a 5$ rebuy tourney despite the amazing value. Ok this is long but hope for good responses as always. Thank you

I would play to win. You got in through a $5 rebuy and you're guaranteed at least $1000! Nice work man, even if you come in 6th, that's a good return on $5 (unless you rebought?).

Now this doesn't mean that you should play crazy loose aggressive... play a typical tag game but don't let people push you around.

Good luck and good job so far.

I'd say just play your normal game in terms of the actual poker, and don't let the money affect you. Also, when you get to the table, try to get a feel for how the money is affecting the other players. If they're playing overly tight, then take advantage of that, and put some plays on them. If they're clever LAGs, maybe back off a little bit.

Also, I'd suggest putting in some more time playing NL live. There really are a lot of things you can pick up in terms of tells, and if your opponents qualified online, they may be exhibiting more than usual. One thing, I always pay attention to is how someone puts their chips in the pot. This is the most likely spot to get a "weak when strong" or "strong when weak" tell as players will almost never splash the pot with a big hand, and usually won't gently push their chips out on a bluff. This obviously varies from player to player, as some players are conscious of the tells they give off, but this can be easy money on an amateur.