An Introduction to Rebuys and Add On Tournaments

Author: Simon Dexter

Littlewoods Poker will introduce rebuy and add-on options to many of its MTT from next week (6th December). We take a look at the different approaches demanded in such tournaments.

Most online poker players are now very comfortable with multi-table tournaments (MTT), the majority adopting a traditional approach during the early stages when pros advise keeping matters exceptionally tight. Why? Well, the blinds are generally so low that there’s little point in exposing your stack to danger, but tight play also allows you to keep a close eye on the table and to wait for a big hand which, according to professional advice, should be played as strongly as possible.

Playing tight and taking little unnecessary risk is a sure-fire way to keep your chip stack at an above-average level, although more aggressive players would argue that such an approach risks leaving you far behind the leaders. Instead, they suggest that taking a few risks can be worthwhile as the blinds are low enough to give you very high implied odds and if you can get to see the flop, there’s always a chance you could connect with a monster.

However, these established strategies change when the MTT becomes a rebuy tournament because players are allowed to buy back into the action should they go bust or their stack drop below a certain level. It follows that with all of this extra cash coming in, rebuys ensure some pretty chunky prize pools – mainly because those aggressive types (especially those with deep pockets) will often risk their stacks with less than exceptional hands and if they lose, they simply buy back in. Should they win, they’re giving themselves an excellent chance of taking the lion’s share of the prize pool, although a word of warning – if you play like this, you had better have around four times the initial buy-in ready and waiting in your wallet.

Of course, the basic MTT aim is to amass as many chips as possible and avoid being eliminated, so when offered the opportunity to rebuy, should it be taken?

According to Mason Malmuth, author of Gambling Theory and Other Topics, rebuying is a mathematical no-brainer. He argues that even if the other players at the table have considerably more chips than you after you rebuy, you should still give yourself the chance to compete. But there are limits and depending upon the number of rebuys allowed, it’s worth establishing how many rebuys you’re going to permit yourself before calling it a day.

Many accomplished players insist you should also consider taking advantage of the add-on period unless you have so many chips that you don’t need to. Ordinarily, if the add-on will give you less than an additional 10% of your chips (or if no-one can pass you as chip leader), it’s not worthwhile adding on. Conversely, if you can become the chip leader or should adding increase your chip stack more than 10%, it’s worth doing.

If you’re new to playing in a MTT with a rebuy and add-on option, your normal strategy will need amending and many players who appreciate this adopt a more aggressive style as a result, using the first few hands to make it known that they’re ready to gamble. More often than not, the table co-operates. Such an approach can often work in regular tournaments too, although the problem is that if you lose, you’re out of the tournament altogether, whereas in a rebuy, if you lose, you can get back in by re-buying.

Having displayed your willingness to gamble, perhaps by making at least one ‘loose’ call during the first couple of rounds, or maybe by calling with a sub-par hand if two players move all of their chips into the pot, your table will continue gambling. However, once you have achieved your initial goal (reaching an optimum chip stack level), it pays to ease back on being the maniac they all think you are.

Of course, this strategy is based upon the assumption that you’re also prepared to permit yourself a set number of rebuys, which explains why, if the option exists, regular rebuy aficionados rebuy as soon as the tournament begins, arming themselves with a significant chip stack. Being in charge of a big stack early on can give you a huge advantage, not least psychological, although once you’ve established precisely how much you require to progress in a MTT and have reached that optimum level, it pays to start tightening up on your play.

The most obvious reason for accumulating a sizable stack during the rebuy period is it enables you to make progress in the tournament; taking bad beats or getting a cold run of cards can be better managed when you’ve got a big stack. You will always hear players complaining about taking bad beats late in a tournament, but had they had some rebuy foresight and put themselves in a position where a bad beat did not cause all of their chips to suddenly disappear, they would invariably survive to play longer.

Bear in mind too that one of the key differences between a rebuy and standard tournaments is the number of chips in play. There is normally a much larger amount in rebuys, which also ensures that the willingness to gamble is greatly increased.

In most regular online tournaments where the buy-in is less than $100, players usually start with $1500 in chips; accordingly, if there are 100 people in a regular tournament, the total amount of chips in play is $150,000. In rebuy tournaments, the total amount of chips typically trebles to around $450,000; it goes without saying that with that number of chips in play, you need to make serious adjustments to your game during all stages of the tournament.
We have already established that you must accumulate as many chips as possible in the early stages of a rebuy tournament, after which you should begin to tighten up, although the impression you have left ‘early doors’ can pay enormous dividends later on.

Calling with marginal hands during the early stages of a rebuy tournament can prove beneficial because many players subsequently believe you’re just a maniac. It follows that when it comes to getting paid off later in the tournament when you are holding a monster hand, it does no harm to let the other players at the table think you’re still a maniac.

Naturally enough, entering the closing stages of a rebuy tournament with a decent stack puts you in a fantastic position: you have enough chips to raise in position and dump your hand if someone goes over the top of you. It also becomes easier to raise with marginal hands or hands you might ordinarily prefer to fold.

Essentially, there are several major (and a number of subtle) differences between regular and rebuy tournaments. In the opening stages of a rebuy, it pays to play a little looser; you should not be afraid to go broke on drawing hands, although once players start getting eliminated and your chip stack grows, gradually tighten up. It’s also worth remembering that other players will use similar starting strategies but fail to change as the tournament progresses; if your strategy remain flexible during a rebuy, however, you have a great chance of getting into the money.

Tags: Add on tournaments, How To Play Poker, inexperienced poker players, littlewoods online poker, Rebuy tournaments

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 at 2:06 pm and is filed under News & Promotions Blog, Poker Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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