To Re-buy or Not to Re-buy

To re-buy or not to re-buy in a poker tournament, that is the question. And, it's a good one.

I have a personal aversion to re-buying in tournaments because it greatly dilutes my overall return - both in the current tournament and in previous tournaments. However, there are a lot of factors that need to be considered.

Because I'm unlikely to re-buy, especially if the tournament sticks to paying only 10% of the participants, I have to look at how often I cash. If I have a history (I do) of making it to the money, I might go for a single re-buy.

However, I have to ask myself what my track record is of coming in first (not so great), and that's where a lot of players make their error with regard to making a re-buy.

As a general rule, poker rooms pay 10% of the participants, so if the tournament attracts 50 players, they are likely to pay only the top five places. This keeps the best players in the money and the worst players out of the money. Of course that's pretty much the point.

If you are new to tournaments or don't make the money very often, try to limit yourself to just the single buy-in and pass on the re-buy. Keep in mind that when you do a re-buy, it is likely the blinds have increased and the chips you get are essentially worth less than they were at the beginning of the tournament - it's tourny inflation, the blinds and minimum bets are higher and your cash gets you less bang for your buck.

As with all rules, there are exceptions. You are more likely to cash in a tournament if you can do your re-buy early, before the escalation of the blinds AND if the ending payoff includes more than 10% of the players.

This happens when a tournament of say 50 players pays the entire last table of 10 players. In this case, 20% of the players will cash, and I like those odds of making the money so much better.

If you are struggling in tournaments, especially with re-buys and add-ons, get more strategic re-buy advice before your next game!