Without seeing PT stats or specific hand histories, I won't be able to give you specific advice, but I can give you a few things to think about...
In tourneys, what is your goal? Are you playing to win, or trying to sneak into the money? The latter is a losing strategy, IMO. If you are the first person out or if you finish on the bubble, you get paid the same - and even if you DO make it into the money, if you regularly sneak in, you'll be a losing MTT player in the long run. These tourneys are HEAVILY weighted towards the top 3 spots, so that should be your goal (IMO) - at least making the final table (depending on the size of these things).
I am NOT suggesting playing recklessly or garbage hands like Q4, but you may want to play more hands that can take down big pots early - ie, calling raises with suited connectors and that sort of thing. In limit cash games, this would be a terrible move, but in a NL tourney, you can end up taking down a HUGE pot when you flop a nut straight against AA. Sometimes playing like this will send you to the rail early, but from what you are saying, that means you're going to get paid exactly what you've been getting paid anyway - $0. So why not put yourself in a position to maybe get an early chip lead and then really be able to use your big stack to push people around as the money approaches and set yourself up to go deep?
Again, this isn't specific advice... just some stuff to think about.
I change gears a LOT when I play, but for these HUGE MTTs, I found I've had the most success by playing extra tight early on. I know this seems to contradict what I just said, and I guess it does, but one thing I want to suggest is that I try to avoid the "trouble hands." Yes, you can flop broadway with KJ, but more often than not, you're going to win a small pot or lose a big one with hands like that. So chuck em. I'd call a raise with 67s a LOT faster than I would with KJ...
When I do have a hand (after the flop, especially), I hammer it and try to win as much as possible. I try to bet the maximum amount I can that my opponent will call - this is a "feel" thing and very much depends on your opponent(s).
Once I double up and get myself a healthy stack, I crank up the aggression. As the table changes or players start to adapt to my game, I back off. I'll fold almost everything for a couple of orbits and then crank it up again. This is very hard to explain, as it's a lot more about feel and reacting to how your opponents are playing than anything else.
Especially as the tourney goes on, it's crucial to know who the good and bad players at your table are. Don't try to bluff the bad ones, and don't be afraid to make a big move on the good ones (like a check raise when a big scare card hits the board) - they are capable of making big laydowns if you play a hand like you have a monster, regardless of the two cards sitting in front of you.
"Starting requirements" are good to know, but they will only get you so far. Watch any of the top players and you'll realize they often throw these out the window. And post flop play is much more important than preflop play, so when you start with a good looking hand and get a bad looking flop, you need to know how to deal with this.
Again.... that's all just some general NL MTT stuff for you to think about. MTTs are very complicated, which is part of why I love them so much.
As for your limit cash games, those are cake. Where NL MTT play is about feel, limit cash games are about math. Once you tweak your game and learn to beat them regularly, they become very mechanical. Position and aggression are huge. I would rank your starting cards as the NEXT most important thing...
Oh, and a positive mental attitude is key too. You're going to have losing nights. The sooner you can accept that and not let them get to you, the better. I'm still trying to get myself to the point of being 100% accepting of losing big hands to ridiculous river suckouts, and I've come a long way, but I'm still not there yet..... Remember, when you are a 90% favorite with one card to come, you're still going to lose 1 in 10 hands. So when you do, accept it. "Ahhh, there it is."
I realize this is long, unedited, and all over the place, but I'm just trying to type some stuff up for you off the top of my head. Hopefully you (and maybe even others) will get something useful out of it.
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