Strategy Adjustments in Rebuy Poker Tournaments

“Rebuy strategy adjustments? Are you kidding me? I know how to play online poker just fine. It doesn't matter if it's a regular tournament or a rebuy tournament.”

If that's your attitude, you may be in for a surprise, because you better apply some adjustments to your poker strategy in a rebuy tournament or you will not find yourself winning anytime soon. 

Pace: It's the first thing you need to think about when playing in a rebuy tournament. The pace of a rebuy is significantly faster than a tournament without rebuys. It's common sense. If a player can rebuy into the tournament, they will play more aggressively. They will try to win as many hands as possible to accumulate the most amount of chips as quickly as possible. This means players will have the tendency to go gonzo, going all-in with hands they may usually fold. 

What can you do to adjust your strategy in a fast paced game on a site such as Poker Stars? Either you can be aggressive, or you can take advantage of those who are being aggressive. The aggressive player will play more hands. The aggressive player will go all-in on hands they would normally not. The aggressive player will win some and their stack will increase. The aggressive player will also lose some and they will have to rebuy back in. If you decide to play aggressive, you had better be prepared in your budget to cough up some additional buy-ins. On the other hand, why not play tightly and wait for a strong hand. The player who feeds off aggressive players has an advantage. They can compete without having to spend a lot on rebuys.

Whatever strategy you decide on, be prepared in your budget to rebuy back in. If you do not intend to rebuy back into a tournament at least three to four times in your budget, you really have no right in a rebuy game. This is not to say that you will need to rebuy three or four times, especially if you're playing tightly, but without the insurance that you could rebuy back in, the odds of winning will favor the player who is prepared to rebuy back in often. Some players budget themselves to rebuy back into a tournament 30 to 40 times. Will these players have more of a chance of winning than the person who does not intend to rebuy back at all? Yes.