Rebuy tournaments offer a lot of hidden value. Many players on short
bankrolls may register for a tournament without noting its rebuy status.
These players are swept up in the early flurry of loose action, only to
drop out when their pathetic bankrolls do not allow them to rebuy. This
creates a lot of dead money in the prize pools.
Multi-table tournaments (MTTs) come in many different formats, but all of
them can be categorized as either a freezeout tournament or a rebuy
tournament. Freezeouts simply mean that a player continues to play until
out of chips. In a rebuy tournament, a player busting out has the option
to rebuy and continue playing. Rebuy events are occasionally called R&A (rebuy&addon)
tournaments.
Proper strategy decisions can set you up for a nice payday in these
events.
Bankroll
The most important consideration to make regarding rebuy tournaments is
your bankroll. If your bankroll does not allow you to play $55 freezeout
tournaments, you should not be playing $11 rebuys.
A player must go into the tournament expecting and willing to invest five
buy-ins. This includes the initial entry and an early rebuy. Two more
rebuys will be used in the event your aggressive play does not pay off.
The final re-buy is technically called an “add-on”, which will be
explained. It is possible to get away with two buy-ins occasionally, just
as it is possible to get stuck for seven or more as well.
Structure
It is crucial to know the structure of rebuy tournaments at your chosen
site or casino. Most allow unlimited rebuys for an initial period of play
(often one hour). More rarely, the number of rebuys is capped at one or
more. Unlimited rebuy tournaments are the subject of this discussion.
Some rooms allow a player to rebuy only after busting to zero chips, but
most allow rebuys anytime the player has less than the original starting
stack.
The most important structure consideration is rake. Specifically, are the
rebuys raked? A site that requires an $11 buy-in ($10 buy-in +$1 entry fee
for the site) usually allow rebuys to be made for $10. Some sites don’t
charge entry fees, but instead rake a fixed percentage of the prize pool.
In this case, each purchase may be $10, but a percentage of every rebuy
also goes to the house. There is slightly diminished value for players in
these tournaments. These can still be entered if all other factors are
favorable, but the slight loss of value should be considered.
The final consideration is add-on amount. At the end of the initial rebuy
period, players are allowed to purchase an add-on to their stack for the
cost of one buy-in. This add-on is allowed regardless of the player’s
current stack size. The add-on usually gives more chips than the initial
stack size. A tournament offering 1500 chips per buy-in may give 2000-3000
for the add-on.
Early Rebuy Strategy
We would hope that players would stick to the same strategies regardless
of the stakes, but the reality is that play is much looser as the buy-ins
are reduced. Proper poker strategy says we adjust to the conditions of the
game. Seeing a player open-pushing all in with 87 offsuit from first seat
is not unusual in the early stages of cheap R&As. This ultimately has the
effect of loosening up the table as less-than-premium hands are shown
down. If this is the case, we adjust our game accordingly. You must be
willing to call two preflop all-ins in front of you with JJ. In a cheap
rebuy, they might not have AA, KK, or QQ.
The first decision is whether to rebuy immediately after the tournament
starts. This allows you to start with a double stack and take all of the
chips from another player who does likewise. The decision to purchase
right away should be made based on how many players at your table do so.
If three or more players have doubled up early, you must keep maximum
chips in your stack to take as many of theirs as possible.
The other players and your bankroll should determine your level of
aggression. If you are willing to take high risk in exchange for the
possible reward of building a huge stack, then you can play lesser hands
all-in from later position if the pot is offering significant odds. If the
buy-in is high and play is tight, you might adopt a more normal freezeout
strategy.
One important consideration is not to be caught with slightly more than
the starting stack. If the buy-in gives 1500 chips and you have 1700, you
are not able to make a rebuy. You might consider making (or calling) a bet
of 250 in order to reduce your stack, allowing a rebuy after this hand.
You can easily give up on the hand if you meet resistance. Alert large
stack players should look out for this move. If a player bets down to
1490, often a larger reraise gives you an easy steal if no one else is in
the pot.
Part II of the Rebuy Tournament Series will take us through the remaining
stages of these games.
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