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Originally Posted by Logik
I see what you're saying, but relying on luck at higher blinds only really applies if you're short stacked, and being low on chips changes the way you play the entire game, regardless of the blinds. When you can only cover three bets, you're more likely to go all in on a 99, for example, a play you'd never make if you were still in the hunt. But when you have two or three guys with tall stacks throwing around bets in a high stakes hand, you better use the strategy that got you into that hand in the first place if you want to stay alive.
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I'll concede that tournaments definitely require skill, as evidenced by the same slew of people at the WSOP every year. However, an amateur can even the odds between him and the professional by taking advantage of luck. A professional knows how to play each part of spread to maximize their potential for winning. Effectively, even if a professional has a marginal hand, they can outplay their opponent psychologically and win on that regard.
Amateurs can take away that advantage by playing pairs and AK by going all-in pre-flop. Anyone who calls with a comparable hand is still only about 50% to win, effectively reducing the game to a coin flip. By going all-in first, the player puts the hard decision on the other person, giving them the chance to make that big mistake. This prevents the opponent, professional or otherwise, from outplaying them. Mind you, this is only a preferred tactic if you know you're going up against MUCH stronger players. In addition, this applies regardless of the players stack.
In a broader sense, putting the decision on your opponent not only applies to NLHE tourneys but to HLHE ring games.