Here is a GREAT online poker secret that I learned (and use frequently now) from Phil Gordon:

Take a shot at stealing the blinds the last hand before the break, no matter what your position is.  Many poker players will fold hands they would normally call with because they are either tired, need to use the bathroom, want to talk about their bad beats etc.

Phil Gordon gives some great online poker secrets in regards to how to play when you are the big stack at the table in a poker tournament:

1. Never limp into a pot
2. If the blinds consist of tight players with average stacks, play almost any hand in position
3. Punish limpers with big raises from position when you think they are weak
4. Call from position more often when an opponent with an average stack enters the pot with a raise
5. Rarely, if ever, confront a short-stacked opponent without a premium poker hand
6. Try to win more hands before the flop

You dont always know how a poker player will react to what has happened to them at the table.  Take a time out when the below circumstances take place to determine how the table has been affected:

1. A player just won a big pot
2. A player just lost a big pot
3. A player at the table just got caught bluffing
4. A player was just eliminated
5. A player is tilting
6. A player has likely changed gears
7. The blinds have been increased

There are many reasons for this, which I will outline below: When first in the pot, Raise!

1. Limit the competition
2. Take control of the betting
3. To better define your opponents hands
4. To hide the strength of our hands
5. To win the blinds

Because you lose out on position, and also because you are forced to have money in the pot, you are generally going to lose money while being in the blinds.  Do not invest money in the blinds if you do not have to.  Fold your small blind, and accept that losing half the big blind is better than losing more.