Strategy for NL Tourny with Rebuys and Add On

Zybomb · #1 02-22-05, 05:19 PM

Next week there is a big organized game in my area with top place paying out over 20,000. Its a 50/100 blinds NL Hold Em with 2500 chips to start (im more used to 50 BBs as opposed to the 25 there are here). The first round is 30 minutes and every round there after is 15. Its a 55 dollar buy in, with rebuys allowed for the first four rounds, and 2 add ons (25 for another 2500) allowed before the break. Most of my experience has come in cash games and in tournies without rebuys, and my experience in rebuy tournies is fairly limited. I was wondering if anyone had advice on how to change strategy for this type of a tournament.
In the past Ive gotten annoyed as hell playing in these type of tournies, when someone comes in with 8x the buy in and has intension on using every bit of it, since he can get outplayed so many times and then catch a lucky break and still be a major player in the tourney. Its also frustrating knowing that in roughly one out of every 3 or 4 hands there will be a preflop all in, which kind of limits you to mucking unless your content on risking all your chips with the hand you have. My usual play is tight aggressive, with flashes of loose aggressive when i think the time (or chip position) calls for it. I limp pretty infrequently and come in for standard raises (usually 3x) in the majority of pots I enter regardless of my hand. It seems many players sit around waiting for a big hand and then push all in hoping to either steal blinds and limps or double up, and can always rebuy if necessary. It also makes players more difficult to bluff, as they will make loose calls knowing they can re enter.

Any advice as how to alter your play for these types of tournaments would be appreciated, and also your opinions on a range of chips youd have after the first 4 rounds to make the add ons worth it (too little, the add ons wont matter much, too much they arent necessary) Im sure if I can have a good position after the first 2 rounds, the next 2 wont be as bad, because the blinds will be up to 200/400 and 400/800, so the 2500 re-entrance wont be a factor during those rounds.... Sorry about the long post and let me know what you guys think

omahilo · #2 02-22-05, 05:41 PM

I just skimmed over your post but I will give my advice for rebuy tourneys...

I take a rebuy right away (if you can, usually you are) so I have more chips to work with. Also since you can rebuy, I loosen up my play alot... I will play suited connectors, 1 gap connectors to try to hit a huge flop to gather more chips. Also always take the addon regardless of your chip stack because more chips you have the better.

Also bring enough money to rebuy aleast 5 times if needed.

tazmision89 · #3 02-22-05, 10:12 PM

I'am the complete opposite, I never take re-buys or add-ons. Personally it makes me play on the top of my game.

I am not a big fan of the re-buy and add-ons, I feel that it doesn't make the game more challanging. I mean if your knocked out before the rebuy/add-on period is over, you could essentially double or triple up and be right back in the mix of things.

This is just me and everyones opinion differs.

ChipFish · #4 02-23-05, 01:34 AM

?????

????
Perhaps this little challenge with you and TP should be a re-buy tourney...
Seriously... Not only are you putting yourself at a disadvantage early... but also late....
Why?
Assume you do not rebuy immediately...
You have T1000
A guy doubles up at your table.. and has T2000.
You get pocket aces next hand... He calls your raise, and you push all-in and he calls...
You win....
Instead of winning a 4k pot, you only have 3k.....
The following hand you get Pocket Kings....
The chipleader was just moved to your table... He calls your all-in and you win.... now you only have 6k instead of 8k....
Do you see where I am going with this?
Basically, by not taking an immediate re-buy you are costing yourself potential chips...
Same goes for the add-on.

It is not a smart play, and many professionals will agree... but, whatever works for you.

Talking Poker · #5 02-23-05, 01:41 AM

Actualy, you only have 2k here. 1000 x 2.

And then 4x after the KK hand in your example. Right?

For the record - I completely agree with you here, Chip. I always thought you were supposed to rebuy immediately (and as often as you need to later on - even loosening up a bit when you are just above the minimum) and ALWAYS take the add-on.

ChipFish · #6 02-23-05, 01:47 AM

Ooops... kind of flubbed the math... but you get the idea...

Zybomb · #7 02-23-05, 01:54 AM

the rebuys for this tourny will not let you rebuy immediatley, you must run out of chips entirely to rebuy. I guess the concensus so far is take the add onds regardless of your chip position before the break, so I'll work with that...Im still undecided on how to react to the fact that one out of every 3 or 4 hands there will be an all in preflop during the first round or so...granted, I could slow play a monster and rake in chips, but theres no guarentee I'll be dealt Aces or Kings, so Im wondering if I need to alter my play from how it normally is to deal with this (and the fact that few if any bluffs will work during the first round or so)...you can obviously play looser knowing you can jump back in, but how much more aggressive if at all should I be than I normally am, especially when Id be dealing with at least some % of 'calling stations'...Im thinking see more flops than usual if I can without risking all my chips, and pretty much play your hand...more advice if you guys have would be great

bigjohnstud2o · #8 02-23-05, 05:09 AM

From my rebuy experience all i will say is that it is as much of a tournament to see who can rebuy the most, as it is to see who the better poker players are.

But seriously. I would not say 5x to rebuy add on. Maybe nore hopefully less. Whe they say loosen up that dont mean the K5s and the real jusnk hands but more of the suited connectors and the 1 and sometimes 2 gap connectors. Hope this helps

tazmision89 · #9 02-23-05, 08:09 AM

It's personal preference. I have been using the same stratergy for quite sometime and I do not know if it has a psychological impact on myself but I am aware that I must play to my fullest potential.

Like I said, opinion will vary from person to person and for me, I try not to get involved with re-buy or add-ons.

ChipFish · #10 02-23-05, 12:01 PM

Not necessarily.....
Try doing this.... Play very strong starting hands....(yes. During the rebuy.)
You are only trying to double up once. (gives you 4x the starting stack).
You are actually hoping there are alot of rebuys at your table...
That means, more chips in play (for you to take hopefully).

melioris · #11 02-09-06, 08:45 PM

so the general consensus is to take addons whenever they are offered? Those of you that play a lot of online tournies, is this what you do?

MAYHEM45 · #12 02-09-06, 09:55 PM

Year old threads are fun for the whole family.

TP, I thought you were taking care of this?

Talking Poker · #13 02-09-06, 11:05 PM

I tried to, but the "hack" I found isn't supported for the version of vbulletin that we are running, and I don't trust it.

This is the best I could find anywhere:

If anyone (ahem, Robbie Robb to the rescue?) can find something that will definitely work, I'm all over it. I just don't trust this, as it hasn't worked for the past handful of people who have tried it on vb version > 3.5.0. We are running 3.5.2 right now.

Zybomb · #14 02-09-06, 11:07 PM

Interesting FYI: I think this was the first post I started in this forum

Talking Poker · #15 02-09-06, 11:16 PM

Another interesting FYI: Remember when Chip used to post?

And yet one more: I said "for the record" in one of my posts above - Dammit, stupid Aeq was stupid right!

Zybomb · #16 02-09-06, 11:25 PM

I was just re reading my post about 3 hands I lost with his response right before I read this actually.... hey he never responded to my last posts!

funny

BDMK · #17 02-09-06, 11:25 PM

heres my strategy for R&As: i wont play them anymore. ever.

seriously, as someone already said it in this thread, its as much how many times someone can rebuy as it is about skills. actually, of course, its about the former, not the latter.

in this past yr that i wasted on the (compulsory R&A) entry level sats at stars (et al), i can recall (no names in public!) stars 'prominent' online players bragging how they can qualify for any big event thru the R&As following this simple strategy: go allin/rebuy as many times as needed to accumulate min 20-30k chips in the first hr, and then take it from there. it takes a lot of skills to do that, right?

rebuys and turbos are responsible for some serious, mass-scale, dumbing down of online poker. big time.

Talking Poker · #18 02-10-06, 12:43 AM

Who cares if it takes skill? If a big event entry is worth $500 for example (I'm just picking an umber out of thin air), and you KNOW you can qualify for it by playing like this in a $10 rebuy and it will cost you anywhere from $30 to more likely $150 to an outside shot of $300, then what's the problem? They are spending < $500 and leaving with $500. Seems like a pretty good plan to me.

melioris · #19 02-10-06, 05:39 AM

I dragged this thread out because I was wondering what strategy folks recommend for rebuy and addon tournies. I first searched for "addon" through threads, but most of the info was old. So instead of starting a new thread and then having someone link to this one, I justed ask a vague followup question in this thread. If that is not the preferred way to ask a question probably has already been asked previously, just let me know.