Re: survival vs. play-to-win?
"Playing to win" and "Playing to survive" aren't strategies, they're philosophies. Furthermore, they aren't philosophies on the same level as one another. Every tournament player has to have the instinct of survival; after all, we're born to fear death. However, to act on the desire to win, and overcome fear of elimination (death, rejection, etc.), is apart of what defines a great player. So playing to win is, in effect, the next step; the break from primordial instincts.
The best "strategy" is to get as much equity (in all its forms) out of every hand with the information available to you. When you can do that consistently, IMHO, you're employing both philosophies simultaneously. We only question whether its one or the other because when we say "play to win", it usually implies foregoing a larger risk over the more prudent play, even though we stand to gain more in the long-run. In this regard, always play to win.
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