Everyone has felt that feeling of “if only I could buy more chips and try again…”. Well, rebuy tournaments will give you exactly that opportunity, but you need to know how to use it in a thoughtful way and follow a strategy.
Below we will list some interesting types of lines to follow, each with its pros and cons.
The super loose strategy
In tournaments with unlimited rebuys, one strategy is to play as many hands as possible while rebuys are allowed, trying to accumulate a large amount of chips to have good playability in the final stages of the tournament. Using this strategy means abusing raises and re-raises, pre and post flop, until all the chips are in. The goal is to hit a big hand or try to get lucky with a bad hand. The advantage of this strategy is the stack you will have after the rebuys end, the disadvantage is the high investment you must be willing to make in rebuys.
This strategy is dangerous and ends up backfiring for most players, since even if you get deep in the tournament you will not be guaranteed to get a good prize and recover your investment.
If you want to follow this strategy, pay attention to the tips. Play a lot of hands, but don't waste rebuys with absolutely bad hands like 73 and 85. Don't make unnecessary overbets like betting 2,000 in a pot of 200. Pay attention to how you play hands where you have almost 0% chance of winning, rebuys are there to be made, but calling a bet on a board :As :Qs :Ks :Tc :8s with a :6c :6h, for example, is crazy.
Finally, another positive point of this strategy is that it is extremely fun. Playing many hands, making big plays and even having bad beats from time to time can be good.
The loose strategy
A much better strategy is to play many more hands than you normally would during the rebuy period, but to keep your risks in check. It makes sense to loosen up your game especially in late position where you can better control the size of the pot. Along the same lines, you should defend the blinds against small raises, knowing that your opponents will get bogged down when they hit any part of the board, since they are also thinking about rebuying a lot.
The advantage of this is that when you make a big hand you will probably get paid. Those extra chips you spend before the flop are worth it when they give you a chance to make a big hand. Following the super loose strategy you may need to make up to 20 rebuys. With the loose strategy around 2~5 rebuys are enough.
The one shot strategy (one barrel or one bullet)
Another strategy, often used by players with smaller bankrolls, is this one. While many players will be willing to rebuy several times, some players will buy in and then walk away if they are eliminated without rebuying at all. Some people think this strategy is useless and bad, but that is not true. Playing against players who are willing to rebuy means you are at a huge chip disadvantage, in theory. However, if you hit a good hand, your payout will be many times greater than your investment.
If you decide to use this strategy, you need to be very focused and patient. It is important not to get too involved if you know that the advantage is small. Putting all your chips in play with an A2 or KJ can end up being suicide, when you could wait for a better and more reliable situation.
If you’re playing online, you’ll see around 60 hands in the first hour while everyone is playing very loosely with low blinds. When deciding whether or not to commit all your chips to a certain hand, ask yourself if you could find a better spot or if this really is the time to risk your only “life” in the tournament. There’s no need to risk your survival as a 55% favorite when you could expect to be 70%.
A small variation of this strategy is the “three bullets” strategy. This variation consists of making a buy-in, up to a rebuy, and if that doesn’t work, waiting for the add-on and doing it. That’s practically three chances in the tournament. A slightly heavier investment than the previous strategy, but totally within the bankroll.
Rebuy tournaments are an increasingly growing trend, study them, create strategies, lines, adapt thoughts and take advantage of this type of tournament that can be very profitable considering the large amount of money injected into the prize pool by players.
Article translated and adapted from: Rebuy Tournament Strategy
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