One of the positive things about the art of poker is that there are many types of tournaments and each one has its own particularities. Live poker tournaments and online poker tournaments are not identical. But in both formulas there is a type of tournament that requires a good strategy: tournaments with rebuy or rebuy.
Rebuy tournaments are tournaments in which players are allowed to buy more chips than the tournament’s starting stack. There are tournaments where once you lose your entire arsenal of chips, you can rebuy your way back into the table. There are also tournaments where you are allowed to rebuy in the early rounds, in order to quickly build up your stack. And there are other events where round limits are set, and until a certain number of rounds have passed, this function cannot be executed.
It all depends on the poker rules of the tournament, but re-buy tournaments are a common occurrence. However, players need to know when to rebuy and when not to rebuy, what kind of rebuy to do as they can be of various types and how to analyse the situation after rebuying. It is also important to know what strategy to follow once you rebuy in a rebuy tournament, even if you have not yet executed that option. In our software there is an option in your account preferences called “Auto-rebuy”, with which you automatically rebuy in a tournament, provided that the tournament allows it.
The importance of opponents
The first thing to consider in a rebuy tournament is your position at the table. If you have been unlucky in a hand and your stack has suffered as a result, it may be worth rebuying. However, if your opponents are outplaying you and your strategy is not being effective at all, it may be time to fold. Continuing will only waste money you could be saving.
This is very important and decisive, although it is also difficult to see it. The professional player has to analyse why things have not been going well and be realistic. But in a tilt moment we may not be able to see what is happening. If you don’t see it clearly, don’t make a buyback that you might regret later.
The time to buy back
When to buy back? This is a question with many answers, and every player can answer it differently. The tendency in tournaments is to re-buy early on, when the event management allows it. That way you will double your starting stack and have a competitive advantage over the other players. It is a widespread practice among professionals.
There are also other options that are more recommended for big tournaments and that is to buy back in only when you are eliminated. If you are playing a very soft game where you only play the hands with good tricks in your hole cards, there is little point in rebuying. If you are in a hurry with the size of your stack then yes, but be aware that not all tournaments will allow it.
Also, many players agree that ideally you should have a budget of no more than five re-buys. Less or more can lead to shortcomings in the style of play. This is preferable in order to be able to make double re-buys and the add-on, an extra re-buy that the player reserves for himself.
Regarding the add-on, it is only preferable to run it if you are in an intermediate zone. If you are at the top of the stack rankings, you will have a good number of chips, so there is no need to run it. And if you’re in the bottom ranks, it might be better to just hold on as long as you can, as you’ll have a hard time claiming the final victory.
After rebuying
If you finally decide to rebuy chips in the tournament, you should be aware that the best strategy is to play few hands. Only the hands that you are willing to go all-in are the hands we advise you to play. Anything else is just throwing away part of your stack and handing it over to other players who can hurt you in future hands.
Rebuy tournaments often turn into a jungle where players try to build up a big stack as quickly as possible, so they play a lot of hands and make it difficult to take chips without putting everything you have on the line.
Keeping your cool
Another key factor in these kinds of tournaments is to stay calm. Poker in itself requires this quality, so it won’t be difficult for you to acquire it if you already practice it. The first hour of rebuy tournaments is the most hectic, as this is when many opponents will make an initial rebuy and try to get their stack as high as possible on the table.
Once the first hour is over, you can use a strategy similar to what you would use in a normal MTT tournament.