Rebuy Tournaments
Some rebuy online poker tournaments have limits on the number of rebuys or add-ons you can purchase. Typically, a rebuy event has unlimited rebuys for the same price as the buy-in and you get the same amount of chips as the starting stack. These would be available to any player at the starting stack or less for a certain amount of time, say 3 blind levels. Also, rebuy tournaments almost always have an add-on, where at the end of the rebuy period, you may spend the same amount as you did on a rebuy and get an add-on, which usually gets more chips than the starting stack.
For example:
$5 + $0.50 rebuy tournament. STARTING STACK = 1500 CHIPS REBUY = $5 for 1500 CHIPS – unlimited while at 1500 chips or less ADD-ON = $5 for 2000 CHIPS – one per player You might first notice that the rebuys and add-ons do not have a rake involved. You only pay the rake (+$0.50) for the initial buy in. After that, all the money from the rebuys and add-ons go straight into the prize pool.
In an unlimited rebuy game, there are a lot of players who love to play various casino games and gamble. Usually, even a low cost rebuy event will garner a bigger prize pool than a freeze-out tournament of double or even triple the buy-in. Almost everyone will add-on. During the rebuy period, however, players are more likely to take larger gambles because if they lose, they can always rebuy. So, if you do not want to rebuy, be prepared to play tight and watch a lot of madness. The good thing is, if you catch a big hand, your opponents are more likely to pay a bad price on their draw. So, all you have to do is hold up with the best hand. Of course, since more people are gambling, you will have to hold up more often and will inevitably get drawn out on once in a while.
The players who play very loose in the beginning of rebuy online poker tournaments are hoping to get maybe 10x their starting stack early, so they can play very aggressively after the rebuy period is over. The play tends to tighten up again after this, because now people lose their poker immortality; if you lose, you’re out. So in a rebuy tournament, you have to decide if you’re going to be the gambler or the rock. Both can be profitable, but one is far more fun than the other. Some rebuy tournaments have restrictions, like the number of times you can rebuy. A typical format is the 1 rebuy / 1 add-on game. In this instance, you get one extra bullet at the beginning. There is far less gambling going on here and the rebuys are used more as a reserve than as a strategic element.
