|
|
|
|
 |
|
EXPERT VIEW - Rebuy Tournaments And How To Play Them
|
08 October 2005
For a supposed NOVICE, Ryan is progressing very quickly as a tournament poker player. His final-table finish in his first rebuy event got me thinking about optimal poker strategies to play in rebuy tournaments - how players should approach them, and why they are different from freeze-out or elimination tournaments.
The key is to have a set strategy going into the tournament, and not winging it once you see how things are going. You need to know beforehand if you intend to rebuy, and if so how many times are you willing to rebuy (presuming the tournament allows for numerous rebuys, some on pokerroom.com for example only offer a single rebuy). You must stick to this game plan regardless of the play you find. Even if the standard is weak and you have hit your maximum you need to get up and leave it alone. There is a school of poker thought for playing in satellite qualifiers that I think applies equally well to rebuy tournaments: If you can`t win a satellite event at the second time of asking, what makes you think you could cash in the main event? Similarly, if you have been knocked out, bought back in and been knocked out again it might be time to admit that right now you cannot beat this game.
Rebuyers fall into three broad categories - those who play like absolute maniacs hoping to build stacks quickly, a poor strategy anyway; those who impulse rebuy as an emotional response to the last hand that saw them eliminated, an even worse strategy; and those who have predetermined to rebuy a set number of times, and who rebuy very casually. The last way is the best of the three, but my advice is to treat rebuy tournaments like a normal elimination event and play accordingly.
If you play tight early on, and you get the cards, you can demolish maniacs and build up your stack to the point where you don`t have to rebuy, an advantage in itself. Ryan followed this strategy perfectly in his rebuy tournament, and it does work. You can`t press in rebuy tournaments, and by that I mean steal a lot of pots early on, because so many players have the exact same idea. Running bluffs in rebuys is a shocking idea. You need cards, and whether you intend to rebuy or not it is a sad truth of rebuy poker that without those cards you are in a tough spot to win any meaningful pots.
I`ve always felt that it was easier to win a 200 entry tournament than a 50 entry rebuy tournament where the average player rebuys 4 times. In both instances you need to knock out 200 opponents, but in rebuys you are eliminating poker zombies who insist on rising from their graves to try again. The difference is that luck plays a far bigger factor in rebuy tournaments. Your opponent is willing to gamble more and make a lot more marginal calls and that means you need to avoid more bad beats. This is tough to do. Eventually that inside straight draw will catch your made set and you`ll feel sick, but that is the reality of rebuys.
Whether you intend to rebuy or add-on or whether you intend to play like a rock early on and take your chances, you need to be very aware of when the rebuy period ends. The best time to make a move in these tournaments is right before the end and as soon as play resumes. In the latter case players either become tight or desperate depending on stack size. I have made my biggest moves calling weak all-ins in the first fifteen minutes after the rebuys and addons are over. Calling with a medium pair is a weapon here. In the period just before the rebuy or add-on you see very loose play and if you are fortunate enough to pick up a hand of merit you can make a huge move against weak players who will get sucked in because of timing.
Posted by: Marc at 17:46
0 Comments
Related Posts:
> PROMO - Ultimate Bet Sunday $125,000 Guarantee
> NOVICE VIEW - OK so this is what tight really means
> NOVICE VIEW - Tight Play in Sit and Go Tournaments
> EXPERT VIEW - The Perils Of Pot Limit Poker
> NOVICE VIEW - A little bit more ambitious
> NOVICE VIEW - One step forward two steps back
> Playing at the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship
> Million Dollar Fee Roll Part 2
|
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
