Rebuy tournaments can be a lot of fun and very exciting; they can also be very expensive. It pays to understand not only the rules of the rebuy tournament but also the players you will be facing.

Basically, a rebuy tournament allows players to purchase additional chips during the early rounds of play. A common example would be a $100 buy-in, for which each player will begin the event with 2,000 chips. They rebuy rules state: “A player may purchase 2,000 chips at any time during the first three levels of the event. As long as they have at the time of the rebuy 2,000 chips or less in their stack, rebuys are $100.”

Many beginning players treat rebuy tournaments as a kind of “second chance” event. If you go broke in the first few rounds, you can just put up another entry fee and begin again. However, seasoned players may well have very different strategies. The first thing they will do is rebuy before the first hand of the tournament; notice the rebuy rule stated that you may rebuy if you have “2,000 chips or less”. Players want to have everyone at the table covered in case there is an early big hand.

Also many good rebuy players will play very loose starting hand standards during the rebuy period; they are looking to make a unsuspected hand and trap someone for a large pot. In fact, professional players talk about “seeding the table” by making multiple rebuys to get lots and lots of chips out during the early rounds, so they can win them back with a very loose, very aggressive style of play.

Let me repeat: Rebuys tournaments can be a lot of fun, they can also be very expensive. Understand this type of tournament, before you play. Wise advice at any time for any tournament but particularly true when you enter a rebuy event.

-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #94

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