Should your strategy be just to wait for solid hands to get your money in with against these wild people or should u join then and try to amass a large chip stack?

Be wild. Have to get a big stack. Tourney's are top heavy so you need to play like it. Once I have chips I pay very close attention to any big stacks in a hand or any to act after and choose my hands accordingly.

On stars for example, I play maniacally until I have about 10k, then I slow down and wait for solid hands. That doesnt mean you should move with any two first hand, but play connecting hands, suited one gaps, and just push all in. Remember to rebuy right away as well. Then double rebuy whenever you bust. It might get expensive, but it's usually worth it to get to the break with a big stack, and beat up on small stacks.

15k is the chip count that I consider myself happy if I get to. I'd be really happy though if I was table chip leader.

do u usually get the addon at the end? depends on chip stack size?

I'm in the minority here. I usually play rebuys pretty cheap unlike most online pros. I think it's wasteful to rebuy over and over again. If you play it tight and wait for a good hand you mayb double or triple up. I know this sounds very passive but the advantage of having a huge stack after the first hour does not outweigh the disadvantages of having to FT in order to break even.

Why do you need to have 15k after the first break with blinds so low? If you feel you are the better player all the maniacs did was fill up the table with chips and you have plenty of tournament to make up the chip lead they may have. Just my opinion but I've fared pretty okay in the ones I've played on UB.

Always. Makes no sense to take advantage of rebuys and not take the add on since it is usually more chips for the same amount.


I can see them also being played this way. Being a maniac rebuy player isn't for everyone. One thing I would like to point out. If for the most part you assume you are better than most of the players at your table and your table is not breaking soon, you are allowing more chips to accumulate at your table, even if right now, you don't have them. Just something else to consider.

This strategy is not for rebuy satellites. UB features mostly rebuy satellites I know so lets not confuse the two. In smaller field events like UB has, it seems like it would be more of an advantage to get as many chips as possible in the first hour. Since you're more likely to hit the big cash. Obviously rebuying too many times can be a problem, but most of the time, it will only cost you maybe 3 rebuys to build a decent stack. If you end the rebuy period with more chip equity than your buy-ins then you're doing ok. Obviously that can be a goal too, but when you're unable to play deep stack poker after the first break, the skill that you hope you have over the field is diminished. You don't have a full arsenal of plays. This is why you want a big chip stack. Playing tight is one way to go about it, but it isn't nearly as consistent a method for having a lot of chips.

You saying that you need to final table to break even is laughable. Most rebuys have so many entrants, that this is never a problem. If you play on a really small site, then there is a point where you would have to be concerned, but it's a rarity.

do u usually push with any pair too or are they too easily dominated 4-1 that its not a good idea doing this? also any suited ace? i know it depends if the table is wild as well but in general is this correct?

In the early stages when I haven't built a stack, yes. Once I have built it up a little, my requirements tighten.

I don't really understand what you are saying here. It is better or worse to play tight in rebuy sats as opposed to straight cash prize. I've played both, but spend almost all my tourney play on UB, where the fields are smaller. I have been in rebuy cash tourneys where I needed to get 7th or better to break even. I wouldn't consider 3 rebuys to playing all out aggressive either. I'm thinking more in the range of 8-12. The way I play is to double buyin, if i lose I will double buy in again and I always add on. That's 5 buyins right there.

You are always deepstacked after the 1st hour because the add on (again at UB) is 3000. The worst you can be doing is 6k, which leaves you plenty of room. I think my rebuy strategy may be backwards, but for me it works well, I'm fairly tight the first hour, get to the second hour with a minimum of 6k and then loosen up when the blinds are getting higher and the people who have accumulated stack are trying to protect it. Obviously some of the really strong rebuy players don't ever tighten up and try and control the tourney from start to finish, these guys and I just butt heads and hopefully I'll win that confrontation or I'm out. But from my experience, even the really strong players have a very strong time slowing down after the first hour and regularly get themselves in trouble after the first hour trying to bully.

What I"m saying is that since theres only one prize and theres no BIG prize like in other rebuys, there's less incentive to get in for too much money. I'm still going to push early, but I'll throw a few hands out of the range.