The Rebuy Tournament

   Unlike some people I know, I have nothing against rebuy tournaments. Up until recently I've played very few rebuys, but this has nothing to do with the format of this tourney type. In fact, my first couple of years playing in live Texas Holdem tournaments was almost exclusively in rebuys. I used to play most Friday nights at a local pub that held a $10 rebuy poker game; that is, $10 entry, $10 rebuy. After playing in this for the better part of a year I actually started winning a few games and by the time that this event closed down I'd even managed to make a bit of a profit. By this stage I was pretty comfortable with the rebuy format.
   Since then, I've been playing in a different Friday night Texas Holdem tournament but this is usually a standard tourney with no rebuys. There are a couple of other live rebuy tourneys around at the moment but I don't play in them for one very simple reason: they are too expensive. Although these games feature a $20 buy-in, just like my current regular Friday-nighter, they also have a $20 rebuy and a $20 add-on. In other words, they could cost up to $60 to play in; a little too steep for me. However there is a $20 buy-in/$20 rebuy (no add-on) tournament played on a Wednesday night at a local pub, and I've been going to that for the past few months. I actually checked this game out last year ('Winter Bulletin', Tues 02/09/14) but wasn't impressed. The tournament organisation at the time was shambolic and it had a rather odd structure, but things have improved markedly since then.

 So after vowing never to go back to the Landmark Bar tournament, why did I change my mind? Well, I came to an important realisation a while ago; that I'd been neglecting the absolutely vital matter of game selection. After looking back at my poker history I realised that I needed to concentrate more on playing live games, because that's where my best results lie. Add to that the fact that Wednesday is my most convenient night for playing poker and that the venue is a five minute bus ride (or a 45 minute walk) down the road and I had to bite the bullet and give the game another shot. As it turns out, this tournament is now being run in a much more professional way and I've realised that some of the peculiarities of the tourney structure may actually be to my advantage. So I'm down there on most Wednesday evenings.
   The Panmure Hotel has been through a few changes over the years, and a few years back was divided into a 'sports bar' and a 'bistro bar' called the Landmark. Then the Panmure RSA (Returned Servicemen's Association) moved out of their old clubrooms and into the Landmark. I'm not sure exactly how this arrangement works, but Wednesday night appears to be RSA club night. This is the night when all the RSA members turn up, and there is karaoke, raffle draws, occasional pool or darts competitions and, of course, poker. The game is usually played at a couple of tables involving 13 to 16 players, and goes on until quite late, if you make it through to the end.
   The game itself is essentially a turbo. For $20 you get 4000 in chips, with the blinds starting at 25/50 (you start with 80 big blinds). After half an hour the blinds increase to 50/100 and this level is followed by a break. After the break the blind period drops down to 15 minutes and the blinds go 100/200, 200/400, 300/600, 400/800. So after the second break the blinds have hit the 500/1000 level, the equivalent of 1/4 of the original starting stack. Clearly, with a relatively short starting stack and the big blind doubling three times in a row this is a structure that promotes action and encourages players to rebuy.
   As for the rebuy, it costs another $20 for a stack of 2,500 chips. I've never seen a rebuy tourney before where the rebuy stack is smaller than the starting stack and this makes for an interesting dynamic. A lot of players like to rebuy but they come back into the game with a significantly short stack. Anyone rebuying at the start of the second period comes back into the game with only 12 1/2 big blinds. And if you come back in at the start of the third period, you have just 2 1/2 BBs ! Amazingly, some players actually do this. The organiser allows multiple rebuys until the prize pool reaches $500. This is the upper limit that is legally allowed for a game of this type and the prize pool usually reaches this level. So the combination of the turbo structure and the short-stack rebuy combines to push up the value of the prize pool.
   It was always my intention when I started playing in this tourney that I wouldn't rebuy. Paying $40 or more is a little over my buy-in limit so I figured that I'd just play with my starting stack and take my chances. As it turns out, I think the unusual structure of this game plays to my advantage. It means that the players who are rebuying are bloating the size of the prize pool and coming back into the game at a distinct disadvantage because of the short rebuy stack. In the long run I think that this is the best possible tournament structure for someone like myself who doesn't want to rebuy.
   The players in this tournament are fairly typical of the pub/club poker tournaments that I've been involved with over the years. There are probably five or six regulars, most of whom have a reasonable idea of basic poker play. The remainder are casual players with little or no idea of how to play well. There are often one or two absolute beginners involved as well. The game usually involves lots of calling, especially pre-flop, and very little raising. If the pot does get raised, many of these loose-passive players will then call any size bet, just to see a flop. The result is lots of very big pots and numerous rapidly diminishing stacks. In other words, a typical 'no-foldem' game (see 'The OMG Hand', 21/09/13).
   The way that this rebuy game plays out is not that much different from any other tournament. After all, the rebuy is simply adding more players to the game, and of course, more chips to the tables. And because I'm not rebuying anyway, I just play it the way I would a 'straight-up' tournament. But on the odd occasion when I do play in a rebuy, the only difference in strategy comes as the end of the rebuy period approaches. That's when I have to decide whether it would be better to push all-in in an attempt double up or whether it would be better to hold on to my current stack. This is something that I generally have worked out before I start, so it's not that much different from a regular game. But as I don't rebuy in this tourney, it's academic anyway.
   The real adjustment that I need to make when I play in this game is to the turbo-style blind structure. With the 80 big blind starting stack and the three level double-up (not to mention the shortening up of the blind period) things move pretty quickly. This means it quickly becomes an action game where you are forced into the position of making a move. But it doesn't mean I'm changing my basic strategy. I still play tight early on and then get looser as my stack/blind ratio increases. The difference with this tournament is that I reach the 'action zone' earlier than I would in a slower-paced game. So typically I'm folding a lot in the earlier stages; mostly just sitting pretty and watching the action. Generally I reach the 'push-or-fold' zone some time after the first break. And then I'm either doubling my stack, giving me a bit more room to manoeuvre, or I'm knocked out, giving me 7 days to figure out where I went wrong.
   My recent results in this game have not been great, but it's way too early to panic. It's in the nature of turbo-type games that luck plays a big part, and all you can do is keep playing the best game that you can. I had a couple of cashes earlier in the year, but the money has dried up since, and I just recently dropped below the break-even point. Nevertheless, I'm reasonably confidant that the results will come in the long run if I keep working at it. I certainly intend to keep playing at least until the end of the year and probably well past that, regardless of the results. Even if I don't get the good results, there's always the karaoke.
  Yeah right.