Rebuy Tournaments

One of the main reasons for the popularity of rebuy tournaments is the fact the prize pools are usually massive compared to a freezeout (a tournament where you cannot rebuy) of a similar buy-in. Where as an $11 freezeout may carry a $3,500 or $5,000 guaranteed prize pool, an $11 rebuy may boast a $15,000 guarantee or even higher. With such large prizes being available for such a small financial outlay, rebuy tournaments attract weak, recreational players in their droves which in turn make rebuy tournaments potentially financially rewarding to whoever enters them.

In years gone by I would watch rebuy tournaments taking place online and wonder why on Earth players were moving all in on the very first hand. It seemed like an alien concept to me but if you think about it logically the more chips that are on your table the better, but only f you are a good player of course! Whilst the craziness of the early stages of a rebuy tournament has subsided somewhat, you should still be willing to gamble during the rebuy period because if you do lose your chips you can simply rebuy them once again.

Push Small Edges

In a standard freezeout you are often told to pass up on a small edge if it means you will be able to be in a situation later one where you have a substantial edge. But in a rebuy you should be pushing every small edge that you possible can because losing is nowhere near as serious as it would be in a freezeout. You should also be aware that - especially in a low buy-in rebuy - that players just love to gamble with a myriad of weak hands. If you get your chips into the middle preflop during the first couple of levels of a $2-$11 rebuy tournament with a hand such as ace-queen then you are going to be ahead plenty of times as weaker aces will certainly look you up, as will ridiculous hands such as queen-jack suited etc.

Big pairs are real monsters. One strategy to employ early on in a rebuy is to just move all in with QQ+ maybe and expect to scoop a large pot and double from the off. There is no point slowplaying these hands at the best of times, but early in a rebuy tournament slowplaying anything is usually a recipe for having to rebuy yourself!

Along with the money bubble and the final table bubble you should also be aware of when the rebuy period is going to come to an end and adopt a bubble-like strategy for this time. Micro and short stacks will be looking to gamble it up in an attempt to build some sort of stack before the add-on becomes available, so try to attack the medium stacks who have more to lose. Someone who has spent the last hour building their stack to an average sized one will not want to give it up easily so expect them to fold to your preflop aggression more often than they play back at you.

When the rebuy period is over there is usually an option to add-on. The general consensus is that you should always take the add-on unless you have absolutely no chance of making it to the money or winning. The add-on is usually very good value because it normally offers extra chips at a cheaper rate from what you purchased as a starting stack so you need a good excuse not to take the add-on.

As soon as play restarts after the rebuy period has ended, keep an eye out for players who are still in rebuy mode. Many will either be unaware they can no longer rebuy, whilst others will not be used to playing with the deep stacks that doing well in the rebuy period can generate. Tighten up during the first couple of levels after the rebuy period ends and hope for some big hands to knock out those who are hellbent on self-destructing. Just remember that once the rebuy period is over, the tournament becomes nothing more than a freezeout and you should treat it as such.

Rebuy tournaments may seem scary on the outside but they can be perfect for hitting that big score that every poker player wants to hit. Approach them in the correct manner and that big score could be yours for a pittance.

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