Rebuy tournament strategy

To rebuy or not rebuy – that is the question! Should you rebuy and if so how often?

Rebuys in online poker tournaments are where you are allowed to buy your way back into a tournament after you have lost all of your chips, normally there will be either limited (or single) rebuys or unlimited rebuys.

In the first instance, there isn’t really a strategy for rebuying, it is simply a way back into the tournament if you have been eliminated. You must decide whether the rebuy level is enough to give you a chance of progressing further, taking into account the chip stack sizes of your opponents.

Although there isn’t a rebuy strategy as such here, the fact that it is possible to buy your way back in often changes players’ approach to the game. In rebuy tournaments you will often see an all-in frenzy and peole raising huge amounts in the rebuy period. The reason for this is that it is often seen as worth taking a chance and making big bets in an effort to collect a big stack, there’s always the safety net of the rebuy if it all goes wrong.

There are many factors that will influence your decision whether or not to rebuy, but it all boils down to one thing – value.

If you find yourself very short on chips and you’ve just been on the wrong end of a bad beat where you’ve lost most of your stack, but you feel that you are one of the best players in the tournament and your lowly position is a false one, you will probably feel that a rebuy is a good thing. You will be giving yourself a chance of getting back into the tournament where you now know the strength of the opposition and you feel well equipped to beat them.

However, if you have been consistently outplayed and you’ve seen your stack gradually diminish until you’re forced into a rebuy if you want back into the tournament, it probably isn’t a good idea to rebuy. The tournament is above your level and to do better than you have done already would mean relying on luck rather than your skill at poker.

Unlimited rebuys are a different proposition. They allow “maniac” players to have a field day, and all-in play is likely in almost any hand. The good news for decent players who stick to a well thought out strategy is that these players probably won’t progress very far in the tournament, but will give the pot a massive boost.

As well as rebuys, players can be offered “add-ons” If you are doing very well in the tournament and have built up a large chip stack, you need to ask yourself whether there is good value in adding to it

Freerolls with rebuys

Some freeroll tournaments have a rebuy period, which on the face of it would appear to be a contradiction. Most freeroll players want their poker to be totally free and so rebuys kind of goes against the grain for them and they won't use them.

This presents an opportunity for the player who is willing to pay for a rebuy however, as the competition is greatly reduced.

Again the main thing about making a rebuy is to get value for money, You need to make sure that you have a realistic chance of at least recouping your rebuy or even better.