One Rebuy, One add-on Tournaments
In recent times we
have seen the 1 rebuy 1 add-on tournaments
really take off. As the popularity of the
tournaments increases people are becoming more
experienced in their approach to them. This
article will outline the ways you can approach
the first hour of these tournaments as well as
highlight why they provide great value for
tournament players.
First, it has to be said that
these tournaments really do provide great value
for tournament players if they are played
correctly. The reason that they provide a good
return is because they are played in a very
similar way to that of a regular tournament but
they have more money in the prize pool. You will
find that about three quarters of the field will rebuy in the first hour and most people will
add-on at the end of the hour. These rebuys and
add-ons result in about two and a half times the
normal prize pool in a tournament. This allows
you to play a similar tourney to what you
normally would but have a bigger payout at the
end.
The method I like to apply in
these tourneys is to play it exactly the same as
a regular tournament. As I mentioned above, you
can spend the same initial buy-in but have a
much bigger payout if you reach the later stages
of the tourney. In the first hour I play a tight
game and this tourney format allows me to play
the same way. I wait for premium hands and I
regularly get paid off. You will find that
players are a little looser than normal but not
by much. With the slightly looser game that your
opponents are playing you stand a good chance of
doubling up early. You will need to take full
advantage of your premium hands because most
people will be adding on so that will put you at
a disadvantage after the first break. I find
that treating this format like a regular tourney
I can get a good return on my money. Although
you can be at a disadvantage if you don’t double
up early, I rarely run into this problem and can
normally get a couple of nice double ups early
on. Another method that players like
to adopt is at the other end of the spectrum.
Players can both rebuy and add-on to receive the
optimum amount of chips available. Unlike normal
a rebuy tourney players cannot continually rebuy
so players will have to adjust their play
accordingly. This allows you to play a more
controlled game in the first hour than what you
would if it was a normal rebuy structure. If you
plan on rebuying, I suggest that you do it at
the start of the tourney. The reason is because
you want to be able to extract the most amount
of chips from your opponent. If you rebuy at the
beginning to 3000 chips then you will be
doubling up for the full amount. The other
reason is because your opponent could have 3000
chips as well and you want to be able to take
advantage of that. If you use the method and
then add-on at the end of the first hour you can
easily have 8000 chips and be in a strong
position heading into the second hour.
The third and final method is one
that involves "taking things as they come". In
my opinion you need to have a set strategy at
the start of the tournament and stick to it so I
wouldn't recommend using this style of play. It
involves starting the tournament and playing it
as a regular tournament. If you lose your chips
you then decide to rebuy. When the add-on period
is upon you, you then look at your position to
decide whether you need to rebuy or not. This
may seem logical at this point and probably is
in the short term, but in the long term I don't
think it is the best way to approach these
tourneys. The reason behind my thinking on this
is that you will end up playing each tourney in
a completely different fashion and your results
will be inconsistent. The reason for the
fluctuation in performance will be down to the
fact that the first hour can be a volatile one
at the best of times. Every time you double up
with 1500 chips instead of 3000 you are
potentially giving up a buy-in. This together
with the mentality of not having a game plan can
cause uncertainty, but more importantly you do
not have a set winning strategy.
All top players have a game plan,
playing it as it comes is no way to compete in
any sport or game, you need to have clear goals.
Think about what you want to achieve and the way
you want to approach it. Once you have a
strategy that suits you, stick to it and analyze
your performance based on the position you're in
at the first break and the average stack size
compared to yours. If you are constantly mixing
up your approach during the first hour it is
harder to analyze the overall effectiveness of
the strategy you've chosen. Get your game plan
and play with the winning mentality that you
should have. |
