Tuesdays Tip Rebuy Tournament Strategy

A lot of people don't understand the concepts of re-buy tournaments, how they work, or how much a re-buy tournament actually "might" cost.

The Basics:
You buy into the re-buy tourney for a set price, and can get more chips once you drop below a certain level of chips, or go broke. The additional amount of chips are usually the same number of chips as the buy-in got you, and usually cost you the same amount as the original buy-in.
Most re-buy tourneys allow you to re-buy as soon as you drop below the initial starting stack. Ex: you start with 1500 in chips, limp-in on the first hand for 20, you are now at 1480. The flop misses your hand, someone bets and you fold. You can now re-buy, and add the additional re-buy chips to your 1480! Some re-buy tourneys only allow you to re-buy when you go broke.
Some re-buy tourneys allow unlimited re-buys prior to the first break, some only allow a set number (usually one or two). Also, most re-buy tournaments will allow you an "add-on" (additional chips, usually the same number as the original buy-in and at the original buy-in price) at the first break. After the first break, almost every re-buy tourney will no longer allow re-buys: its now a "freeze-out" tourney: you go broke, you are out.

How the re-buy period differs from a ?freeze-out? tourney
During the rebuy period, if you loose your chips, you can buy more. As such, there is less of a penalty when you take risks. Because the risk is less, you can afford to take chances on coin flips. The goal during the re-buy period is to build your stack. It is not the time to play "freeze-out" no-limit tourney poker. You will want to take chances here to get a Big Stack. Assuming you get a Big Stack compared to your table (and the rest of the tourney), you are going to want to slow down and protect it . You'll only want to risk large portions of it when you are fairly confident you've got the best of it. You should be ok risking small portions of it against small stacks, but you?ll want to avoid taking risks against other big stacks unless you are fairly confident you have the best hand. You've already accomplished your goal: BUILD A BIG STACK. I hear a lot of people say after the rebuy period is over "now the REAL poker begins". That's an erroneous statement usually said by inexperienced players who ?think? they know more about poker then they really do, and who think re-buy play is inferrior. Plain and simple: The "real" poker began when you sat down at the table. The rules and objectives are different in the rebuy period, so the play must be different to obtain those objectives. The objective in the rebuy period is to build a big stack. And since you can "re-load" (re-buy) you are going to take some chances to do that. You won't take those chances after you've acquired a Big Stack or the rebuy period is over.

The question of when to rebuy:
Early in the rebuy period: You never want to be in the situation where you leave money "on the table". Lets assume that on the first hand you and another player limp in, you both fold after the flop, and he rebuys. You should immediately do the same thing. IMMEDIATELY! Because if you get in a big hand with him and you both get it all in, you will want to win ALL of his chips....NOT just 1/2. If you didn't rebuy when he did you would leave 1/2 of his stack "on the table" and back to him. You could have had almost 4x times the starting stacks. Instead you would only have 2x, because you didn't rebuy when he did. You will always want to be at the maximum chips if there are people with more (unless bankroll considerations dictate otherwise. More on that later).
Middle of the rebuy period: You are, say, 1/2 into the rebuy period. At this point a "guesstimate" is that there are about 2x to 3x more chips on your table then when you started. Probably two or three stacks that are 5x or more original starting size. You MUST rebuy when you go below the starting size, if you have any thoughts of going far in the tourney. You cannot allow yourself to leave chips on the table.
Late in the rebuy period: Well, here is where the tough decisions are. If you drop below the starting size, you have decisions to make on whether to rebuy. Bankroll, your state of mind, your estimation of your skill level vs the other players at the table, etc should be factors you should consider when making your decision. If you think you can come back from being quite a bit down in chip count, and your bankroll can afford it, you will want to rebuy. If not, don't rebuy. But realize that to not rebuy at this point is to either believe you can comeback from a huge underdog position, or to basically give up.

The Add-on:
You should add-on unless very unusuall circumstances exist. The unusuall circumstances are: you have a very large chip lead at your table; you are one of the Big stacks in the tourney and the add-on would be less then 10% of your stack (as a ?rule-of-thumb?); your bankroll cannot handle the add-on cost; you are so short stacked that you don't believe that the add-on will help you win. Other then that: Add-on!

So about now I expect you are saying "If I did what you suggest I might be spending 5x the original re-buy buy-in, or more!". That is correct!!! When you consider playing a re-buy tourney, you should budget at-least 2 to 3 re-buys and the add-on. If it turns out you only needed to buy-in and purchase the add-on in that tournament, view the 2-3 re-buys you didn't make as profit you made on that particular tourney (hopefully, in some sort of log that you are keeping that diaries your poker sessions). My advice is to never enter a re-buy tourney where your bankroll couldn't afford at least one re-buy and an add-on. If not, you'll find yourself in situations where you'll be making bad financial decisions for yourself.

After the rebuy period ends:
It?s now a ?freeze-out? tournament: you go broke, you are out! So you?ll now want to play ?freeze-out? tournament poker. Good Luck!

Bruno

News Added: 12 April, 2005

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