Rebuy tournaments are very common at most poker sites. These tournaments usually allow an hour for rebuys with either unlimited or a set number of rebuys allowed. In rebuy tournaments your goal should be to build your stack in the early stages to give yourself a chance to run deep after the rebuy period ends. You should always purchase the add-on because the extra chips greatly improve your expected value in the tournament. A loose aggressive style is correct for the early stages of a rebuy tournament because if you play too tight you will quickly become the short stack and be at a major disadvantage in the tournament.

In the early stages of a rebuy tournament you should be playing extremely aggressively. When you have a big hand you are likely to receive a lot of callers so you should bet more than you would in a normal tournament. For example, if you have pocket aces in a tournament with 1500 chip starting stacks and a player raises to 100, you can easily move all-in here. Other players will want to gamble to increase their chip stacks as well, which will increase your chances of getting called. Also, other players will be making this all-in move, which a very wide variety of hands, so your opponents will not be able to put your on a big hand when you show strength.

Unlike the early stages of most tournaments, coin flips are welcome in the early stages of a rebuy tournament. Getting your chips into the middle in a coin flip situation is positive expected value because you either double up or you just rebuy and start all over again.

It is possible to take this strategy too far. You do not want to be moving in when you have a mediocre hand or are likely to be at a disadvantage. Doing this is a sure fire way to lose yourself a lot of money and no amount of rebuys will be able to save you from playing this loose. Play aggressive, but be smart about it. There is no reason to move all-in with an (A,6) or (2,2), both of which have a good chance of being severely dominated pre-flop.

You should always purchase the add-on in rebuy tournaments as well. The add-on will usually be the cost of the buy-in, but you will receive double the amount of chips. This is obviously a smart move, just because you get twice as many chips for the same amount of money as the buy-in. Also, by building your stack you are giving yourself a better chance to run deep and win the big prizes. Remember, that if you have more chips, then you can win more chips. This means that those chips you added on can double or triple and add up to a lot more chips by the time the final table rolls around.

After the rebuy stage of the tournament is complete you should revert back to your normal tournament strategy. This means you should play a tighter less aggressive style and try to win chips when you are confident you have the best hand. Some of your opponents will not be able to change gears, so you should be aware of this and take advantage of some loose players in the later stages of the tournament.

Rebuy tournaments can be very profitable if you use the structure to your advantage and are willing to gamble in the early stages. A loose aggressive style is good for the rebuy stage, as long as you don’t take it too far and start donating your chips. After you purchase the add-on you should change gears to a tighter style and start grinding your way to the big cashes.

Other No-Limit Texas Hold'em Tournament Strategy:

Bounty Tournament Strategy

Playing the Bubble in No Limit Hold’em Tournaments

Final Table Strategy