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Online Poker Law
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MTT Rebuy Strategy
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Harrington on Hold 'Em
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AOK's Book: 19-Hand Hold 'Em
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19-Hand Hold 'Em Play Chart
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Articles to Strengthen Your Game
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PERFORMANCE POKER – REBUYS!
REBUY TOURNAMENT STRATEGIES THAT WORK!! |
© 2006,2007 |
We can't put everything on here because it's all in the book. Publishers are picky about giving away the store... it sucks..:
Performance Poker - No Limit! Hold 'em on Amazon.com
DON'T WANT TO WAIT TO GET THE BOOK FROM AMAZON? BUY THE E-BOOK WITH IMMEDIATE DELIVERY FOR ONLY $14.25 (35% off)
Rebuy tournaments are the best opportunity, I believe, that beginners have for making money in decent amounts online. They are certainly the #1 value proposition on the Internet. Here's why. The average final prize pool for a rebuy tournament is 4x the initial buyin TIMES the number of players who register. So a $3/.30 rebuy tournament's final prize pool is going to be 12x $3 x # of registrants (let's say it's 2500). At 2500 players that's $30,000. At Pokerstars the tourney pays the top 20%, so for this example it's 500 players. Obviously most of the money is on the final table. First place for this tourney example would be over $5000; barely making it In the Money (ITM) would earn you $22. 100th place would pay $44 for a typical $9.30 investment. Basically limping into the money would pay More than taking 3rd place in a $10/$1 SnG and cost about the same. However, moving beyond just limping into the money pays you quite a bit more. AND I think that making it ITM and farther is easier to learn for MTT's than it is for single table SnG's. Add to that the fact that you've only paid a .30 rake to play in what is essentially a $12 tournament, and you're adding value to value. Finally, $10 and $20 rebuys don't play any differently than $3 rebuys, so you can step up the stakes without really stepping up in competition!!!
WHY REBUYS INSTEAD OF FREEZE-OUT TOURNAMENTS?
If beginners can learn to play $3 rebuy MTT's then why not a $5 or $10 freeze out? The answer is that tight is a BEAU... TIFUL strategy for the first hour of a rebuy tournament and will being you more value and give you a chip position that you will feel comfortable with for the next hour of the tournament. And let me lay out how important that is for you. In our example tournament of 2500 players at least 700 won't make it out of the rebuy period. Believe it or not that many player will either choose not to rebuy or will have so little money on the site that they can't. So you'll finish the first hour with 1800 players maximum. 30-40 minutes later you'll have 1200 players left and at the end of the 2nd hour (which you can get through by folding EVERY HAND if you play the first hour correctly) there will only less that 1000 players in the tournament!!! That means only 1/2 the field has to get knocked out for you to be In The Money!! That typically takes 75 more minutes. Now imagine if you played tight as mad during the 2nd hour and caught another hand or 2 to add to your stack. At the end of hour 2 you'll be sitting with an average chip stack (or better) with barely over 1 hour to play to get a payday. This is an excellent position since "average" chip stack means at least half the field has fewer chips than you do!! Add ANY level of skill or luck to the equation and you're making a run at some serious money once you get past the bubble. So, that's why I recommend REBUYS over freeze-outs.
2ND REASON TO PLAY REBUYS OVER FREEZE-OUTS
In rebuys people love to gamble during the rebuy period. They will fall over themselves to give you their chips when you have monster hands. PLUS, you have the ability to play just about ANY 2 starting cards and make some crazy post flop hands with them as well. This strategy takes that into consideration and uses that to your advantage. This strategy works like clockwork during the rebuy period, and a typical Harrington on Holdem strategy will take you from there to ITM. This is different than freeze outs because you very quickly need to not play speculative hands in freeze outs, but you can play them to your advantage in rebuys. Also in freeze outs players are less likely to dump chips in your lap with totally useless hands. In rebuys it happens constantly during the first hour.
For these reasons I think rebuys should be the game of choice at this time for U.S. players who are looking to make some money from poker. Last year I advocated 19 hand strategies on ring tables as the easiest way to make money. It was, but since the laws and sites have changed that has become a harder proposition. Pacific Poker was a goldmine for 19 hand strategies on ring tables. Now that site is gone and you need to play more sophisticated strategies and search longer and harder for proper table conditions for 19 hand "easy money" tables. But rebuys give great opportunities to beginning players. Now let's get to the actual strategies.
BASIC REBUY STRATEGIES
As you should know when you sit down on a rebuy tourney you will get an initial amount of chips for your initial buyin. I'm using PokerStars so we know it's 1500. You can AND SHOULD immediately rebuy for an additional 1500 chips. So you have 3000 to start. Anytime you get under 1500, rebuy again to get up to 3000 (or as close as possible). When I have 2000, for instance, I will immediately try to dump 500 chips to get down to 1500 so I can rebuy to a full 3000 again. Rebuying is part of the strategy and you must be prepared to do it. But don't worry. With the Performance Poker Rebuy Strategy you won't be rebuying very often. I guarantee it!!
At the end of the first hour no matter how many chips you have you will have the opportunity (during the first break) to ADD ON an additional 2000 chips. Always take advantage of that opportunity. Even if you have 20,000 chips, having 22,000 is better. Almost every rebuy I play I spend only 3 buyins to play it using the strategies in this guide. Occasionally, if someone else gets lucky or I just totally misread a hand I'll go to zero and have to do 2 full buyins again (which means those tourneys cost me 5 buyins instead of 3). But always be prepared to rebuy when you initially sit down, if you get under 1500 chips and during the first break (your add-on rebuy). If you're not bankrolled or prepared to do that, then Don't Play the Tournament!
THE FIRST HOUR WHEN PEOPLE GIVE YOU CHIPS FOR FREE
You're required to do 3 things during the first hour (the rebuy period) to be successful. Each of these is absolutely required and will prove effective 100% of the time.
Requirement #1 - DON'T RAISE PREFLOP OTHER THAN TO RERAISE WITH A PUSH (limp, call or push only)
If you have 98 or AA you are to limp, call or push if someone else raises strong enough in front of you that you think they will call your push with AA. Here's the thing, if you are going to play for all of your chips (or theirs more likely) then you're going to be 90%+ certain that you've already won. The point here is that you're going to give up a little PREFLOP advantage for a ton of REAL ADVANTAGE.
Here are some examples.
1. You limp AA in early or mid position and you get a big raise behind you (or even a push) and someone else calls (or pushes over the top) before the action gets back to you... THEN you push or call for all your chips. You'll see they are playing smaller pairs, AK, Axs, even KQ, KJ and worse. But you have played the hand Perfectly for the rebuy. They were waiting and wanting to push. If you had pushed then it would have taken away their chance to do what they wanted to do – which is push.
2. You are in late position or on the blinds with AA and everyone limps to you. If you push here you have at least 50% chance that they will all fold and you will only get the blinds. We don't want the blinds. We want massive quantities of chips. So don't push… Limp or call. After the flop, play it accordingly. Your AA may not be the best hand after the flop, so you'll play this hand more carefully, and we don't mind folding AA if the board gets ugly and the bets aren't right. But we're going to let them play into us. Don't worry, they will. Now the question may be "how will I KNOW when my Aces are no good anymore?" Requirement #3 will let you know. So we'll get to that. Don't worry. You'll know.
3. You are playing KK and you limp preflop (or call a raise) and the flop comes Ace high. You've saved yourself a buyin. Had you pushed into a preflop raise with KK and the other player had AQ or any other Ace, he would have called and you would have lost. If the flop comes without the ace then you can push into his post flop bet if you want, but you're making a GREAT decision to push here. And a much better decision than to push KK preflop. There are scores of people who will think this is absolutely ridiculous thinking. They can think that. Technically they may be "correct", but REALISTICALLY from a Performance Poker standpoint, it's better to be RIGHT than "correct". What the hell does that mean? It means that this strategy is better for your sanity and does not hurt your results. Trust me.
4. You are playing 87s and someone makes a "standard" raise in front of you. You can call this raise for almost the entirety of the rebuy period. You'll be calling and limping quite a bit preflop with all sorts of hands from suited and unsuited connectors to one-gappers (like 86) to Axs and Kxs. These are all legit drawing hands for "standard" raises during a rebuy period. We'll get to that in Requirement #2. But for this example you're playing 87s with a standard raise in front. You call and flop a flush draw or open ended straight draw. As long as the bets are reasonable then we're going to stick around. Or you flop 2nd pair with a 973 board, then if the bets are small you're sticking around to the river. You're not betting, pushing or raising. You are checking and calling "reasonable" bets only. Many, Many fools like to take weak stabs at low boards. If they had something great they would bet it great. Since they aren't betting it great (or if they are massively under betting their hand) then we'll stick around, but we aren't raising or betting. We're checking and calling.
So, to summarize AA limp/push or limp and play it after the flop. KK, limp or call even a big raise and see the flop before committing. (YES, if some fool pushes preflop and based on Requirement #3 he doesn’t have AA you can call with KK.) And we are calling "reasonable" preflop raises with any drawing hand at all including unsuited 1 gappers. Small and medium pocket pairs, KJ, KQ, AKs they are all the same. You're playing them for a limp or call of a reasonable bet preflop.
WHAT'S A "REASONABLE" PREFLOP RAISE? It's 3-4xBB. With AK and big pocket pairs you are obviously calling bigger raises too and even pushes in the right situation. (I'll lay out what the right situations are in Requirement #3.)
Got it? MEMORIZE IT!! Know it. Think about it. Accept it. Believe this... you are giving up no REAL advantage by doing this and you are gaining TONS of real and powerful advantages by doing it. The flop is the most dangerous thing you have to content with. Don't let it get you!! There's no need. You'll get tons and tons of chips without "gambling" at all. Make THEM gamble. They WANT to gamble. They've been WAITING to gamble. THEYYYYY think that the rebuy period IS FOR GAMBLING. We know it's to take their chips without the stress or worry of gambling. It's just too easy to do. So don't think twice about following this strategy. It's a winner.
QUICK STORY...
I'm playing the $10 rebuy on PokerStars and one guy is pushing damn near every hand with any 2 cards. This happens very often by the way! I'm playing the strategy above and just getting involved when I know I'm 90% to win. After 30 minutes this guy has dumped $140 into the tourney AT LEAST and doesn't have anything to show for it in the way of chips. The table started calling him an idiot. I went and looked him up on www.thepokerdb.com and found out he had won over HALF A MILLION DOLLARS IN TOURNAMENTS!!! He was a monster player. He KNEW he needed a big stack before the rebuy period ended and he was using that particular strategy to get it. I knew the same thing and was using the Performance Poker Rebuy Strategy to do it. At the end of the rebuy period he had 12,000 chips (4x the 3000 chip starting point) and it had cost him well over $200 to do it, probably over $300. I had 23,000 chips and it hadn't cost me any more than my 2 initial buyins plus the add-on at the end of the rebuy period. Two different strategies. Both "work". Mine is cheaper, therefore more efficient. Now, I will say that this player has a monster of a mid and late tournament game. But, this isn't about mid to final stage strategies. It's about the most efficient way to build a stack during the rebuy period. $30/2300 (this was a $10 rebuy) is a hell of a lot more efficient than $300/12,000, IMHO. I paid $.0013 per chip; he paid $.025 per chip - almost 20x more per chip!!!
Requirement #2 - PLAY EVERY GOOFY STARTING HAND YOU WANT (for a limp or even a reasonable raise)
Unsuited one gappers, Q high suited, Ace garbage, whatever. It really doesn't matter. You can play 72o if you want, although there are some hands that you'll just fold because... come-on!! You know? Here's the deal, small amounts of chips are absolutely worthless during the rebuy period. A 4xBB preflop raise may mean something in a ring game or after the rebuy, but for the first hour it's a pointless amount of chips. This is also why we don't come into hands for "standard" raises regardless of our cards (see Requirement #1). That amount of a raise only gives information and doesn't really get you any value. Others don't understand that, so they will be coming in for these "reasonable" raises with quality starting hands. But we're going to call these "reasonable" raises because we know they are REASONLESS if you flop a monster. So I call someone's reasonable raise of 120 chips when the BB is 30 chips and I have 97. The flop comes 97K and they are in hog heaven. They bet larger and larger amounts at me (whether I check/call from early position or simply call then down from a later position) and I get massive quantities of chips for playing "garbage". Alternately, I flop a simple pair of 9's with a 39K flop and they bet the pot at me and I fold. Big deal, no loss but 120 chips - a truly insignificant amount.
The key here when you're playing garbage or drawing hands is to pay a reasonable amount preflop but never to overpay on the flop. Be willing to fold like a cheap dog if your hand is a stinker or a relative stinker to what they most probably have. They TOLD you what they have by their preflop raise. Respect that after the flop.
The other "beauty thing" about this is that since you're also limping monsters it hides the true value of what you're doing. One minute you're limping KK and then coming over the top of someone's post flop bet (on a Q high flop) with a push and then next minute you're calling them down (or coming over the top) with the craziest straight they've ever seen. It won't take long for most players to have trouble choosing between Option A "shit" or Option B "go blind". And they'll end up playing just about anything short of a nut hand so timidly that you'll get massive drawing odds with legit draws or they will so massively overplay their made hands that folding is the easiest thing you've ever done.
I'm trying to think if this needs any more explanation. No! If you make sure you read it, understand it and follow it. You are playing just about any hand as long as you are prepared to let it go if the flop doesn't hit you squarely. The preflop chips are inconsequential as long as the raise is reasonable. The point here is that you want Massive Quantities of chips and drawing/funky hands are the 2nd way you're going to get them.
Requirement #3 - KEEP NOTES
Remember I told you that you were going to KNOW when you were beat (even your AA that you limped and no one raised you and you didn't get a chance to push preflop)? This is how! OK, this is a slightly more complicated requirement than the first 2, but you'll get it after you do it a few times. I prefer PokerStars, but all sites have some way to type notes under a player's name. You will be using this feature CONSTANTLY during the tournament. On PokerStars I just keep my tab at the bottom of the table on this “Notes” section the whole time so I can just double click the player and type in notes quickly. You must do the same.
There are 3-4 primary things you're putting in these notes:
1. What will they push or call a push with preflop?
EVERY TIME SOMEONE PUSHES PREFLOP I type in their note box, "Pushed PF with" and the hand. If they push and no one calls them then I type, "Pushed PF with ??" (PF means Preflop) (ATF means After The Flop)
By the end of the first 30 minutes I know a few things about every player.
First, I know exactly how much of a "gambler" they are. If the box says "Push PF with AT", "Pushed PF with KQs", "Pushed PF with JTs", "Pushed PF with AA", "Pushed PF with A5s". Then I know they Love to Push!! If they have even more notes than I just type is all capital letters at the top of the box "PREFLOP PUSH MACHINE" That was the label I gave my $500k tourney winning friend.
Second, I know what their preflop push requirements are. If the box says "Pushed Pf with AA", "Pushed PF with ??", "Pushed PF with AA" and that's all, then I'M NEVER CALLING THEIR PREFLOP PUSH UNLESS I HAVE AA. Maybe this time they're pushing KK. But I know damn well they aren't pushing something like AQ and I know damn well my QQ that I loved a second ago just isn't going to cut it.
Third, I know if they're TIGHT AND TIMID unto death. If we've gone 50 minutes into a rebuy period and someone has NO NOTES that say "pushed PF with" then I know they are TIGHT, TIGHT or I look to see if they are committed slow players LIKE US!!
Along the same lines, EVERY TIME SOMEONE CALLS A PREFLOP PUSH I type "Called PF push with". You'll see 88, 44, ATs, AK, etc. But most importantly you know what they are willing to play with for all their chips (or a big chunk).
The only additional note I put is if they were pushing or calling an unusually low stack. Say someone took a hit and has 850 chips left and he pushes or calls then I add the words "micro stack" to the note... such as, "pushed micro stack PF with" or "called micro stack push PF with". Those are different than pushing or calling 1500 chips or more.
NEXT, I NOTE WHEN SOMEONE MAKES A RAISE PREFLOP.... That looks like this, "3x with". I don't have to put PF on that. I just know what it means. Then I start watching the hand and look to find out what he raised with and how he's going to play the rest of the hand. A typical weak/tight player's note may say "3x then checked A high flop and folded to a bet". He obviously missed the flop and had no interest in Continuation Betting (C-betting) or seeing any more cards. What do I now know about this guy? If the flop misses him In the Future then he probably ISN'T GOING TO BET. And, IF HE DON'T BET then he's PROBABLY GOING TO FOLD IF I DO BET (even if I called him with 97 and the flop is K high). And finally, if he don't bet and I DO bet AND HE DON'T FOLD then I need to be VERY CAREFUL, because I have NO IDEA what he has.
Second, if the hand gets shown down and I see what he raised with, then I make the note complete by adding his starting cards…"3x with 99..." and I still have the rest of my notes on how he played them. Did he bet them even though an over card hit? Did he push After the Flop (ATF) when the flop was 8 high? Did he turn around and slow play them when he flopped a set of 9's? WHATEVER I see I make a note of.
Now, on the other side of our example is the guy who CALLS that PF raise. His might look like "Called 3x then bet when the other guy checked" or "Called 3x and then checked the hand down". Either way I have information, both from the quantity and quality of the notes. If I see a bunch of "4x..." in someone's notes then I know that 4xBB raise is their standard raise anytime they want to get into a hand. Or if I only see one "4x" during the course of an hour then I know they are probably very selective about their preflop raising requirements. Plus if the hand was shown down then I know EXACTLY what they were raising with.
Also, I will often note the player's position. EP for early position, MP for mid position, LP for late position or even Button for button or BB or SB for big blind and small blind. I don't always do this. But if it seems important to me at the time I note it.
WHAT ELSE DO I LOOK FOR? If someone limped a hand then showed a monster, that's a note; “SLOWPLAYER”. If someone ALWAYS bets their hand and everything they do is exactly what you would expect them to do then I note that. Once the pattern is confirmed than they get the designation in all CAPS of “WYSIWYG” (What you see is what you get). Again, if someone showed aggression preflop then check/folded post flop, I note it. If someone bets into an apparently unwanted pot (where everyone checks the flop) then I'll note it. If they do it a couple more times then they get a note that says, "Likes to bet into unwanted pots on the turn". Rather cryptic note, yes? If I notice that someone limps a lot then I type in "Limps-A-Lot". Again, no magic code.
HOW DO YOU USE YOUR NOTES?
Some things will stand out... or just as often NOT stand out. If you're 30 minutes into the rebuy period or done with it and someone has very few notes then they are a very TIGHT player. If someone has tons of notes then they are a very ACTIVE player. You'll quickly sort the GAMBLERS from the TIGHT/WEAK players. I don't ever call someone a BLUFFER, because just because someone HAS bluffed doesn't mean that I know their bluffing when I’m involved in a hand with them. I like to try to have the situation in which they bluffed and I call it BETTING. "Will bet into unwanted pots" or "will check/raise with a drawing hand". Again, I've seen their final cards at the end of the hand in this instance. If not then the same note might say, "Check/Raised with flush draw board with ??" If every note for someone talks about really great preflop cards then I know they are TIGHT. If I notice someone seems scared of a flush draw board then I'll note that.
YOU MUST LOOK AT AND FOLLOW YOUR NOTES AS YOU PLAY. If a player only pushes AA and KK preflop then don't call them with AK when they push. If a player only bets big when they have 2 pair or better then don't call them with just top pair or an overpaid. I know you're thinking "There's no way that I'll get THAT MUCH information from these notes." Yes you will. Most players are so obvious that their style of play will SCREAM at you from the notes. And you should and must play according. A few players’ notes give such mixed messages and crazy signals that you'll just have to put "COMPLEX PLAYER WHO IS IMPOSSIBLE TO READ" in their box and know you'll have to be wary. Let that player be someone else’s problem, not yours.
So, at the end of the rebuy period when everyone is heading to the bathroom or going for a drink YOU are forming conclusions from your notes and you are making SUPER NOTES at the top of the box. I like to put all "rebuy period" notes in lower case and all "after the rebuy period" and "conclusion" notes in all caps at the top of the note box. So, during the first break (after I add-on, don't forget to add-on) I go through each player and draw some conclusions. I put my conclusion for that player at the top of the box in all caps and put a couple blank lines below it (where I will start making more notes when we start again). These conclusions might say:
UNPREDICTABLE, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE'S DOING
But more often they say...
WEAK/TIGHT EASILY BLUFFED BUT WATCH OUT IF HE CALLS HE HAS SOMETHING
TIGHT, BUT WILL PUSH NUT DRAWS
PLAYS ANY 2 BUT FOLDS IF HE MISSES ON THE FLOP
LOOSE POSTFLOP, LIKES TO TEST YOU BY BETTING
ONLY RAISES OR BETS BIG WITH MONSTERS BEWARE
WILL FOLD TO C-BET UNLESS HE HITS THE FLOP OR HAS OVERCARDS
MAKES CALLS WITH 2ND PAIR OR WORSE BUT FOLDS IF FLOP MISSED
PLAYS AGGRESSIVELY WITH POSITION (BLIND STEALER)
TRAPPER, SLOWPLAYS MONSTERS
etc.
After the tournament starts back up you will know how to play these guys. As the tournament continues if you see a CHANGE to what they are doing then you should note it. If they continue to play as expected then you don't even have to put it down. You can just reaffirm how right you were. Loose players tend to tighten up after the rebuy period ends. Tight players rarely get looser. If they weren't loose when they could rebuy they aren't going to do it now that they can't. Aggressive players may tone it down, but if they get short on chips they'll go aggressive again. Most players do more of the same and never change at all.
The most obvious thing that I probably don't have to point out but will is if a player is UBER-TIGHT and they are on your blinds then you can steal from them anytime you want. You may not want to or need to, but you can and you should a couple times just to prove that your note was right. On the other hand, if a player is UBER-TIGHT and they are involved in a hand with you, then you better be able to beat them with your cards or get the hell out. I'll often put "BEWARE - ONLY PLAYS BIG HANDS FOR BIG BETS, BUT BETS WEAK WHEN HE'S SCARED AND CHECK = FOLD" (CHECK=FOLD means every time this guy checked he ended up folding to any decent bet, i.e. a Check equals a Fold.)
So now you know the 3 requirements for playing the Performance Poker Rebuy Strategy. Go back and read them each again. Write them, make notes, use a pen and a piece of paper to put them into your head by putting them on paper in your own words. It's important that you follow these and you'll do wonders in the first hour or two of a rebuy.
QUICK STORY...
So I'm playing a $10 rebuy and this one guy at the table starts telling other players that they're stupid. I hate that. Bullies and "Poker Geniuses" irritate me. So, first I run to www.thepokerdb.com and look him up to see if he really is a genius and it says he isn't. He only made 1 final table and my notes said he was EXTREMELY TIGHT/WEAK. So I started giving him shit and calling him a "poker genius" which is my way of saying you're a book learned but un-experienced player. You know what you’re talking about but have no idea what the hell you're talking about! So, I start telling the whole table exactly how he plays and what hands he plays and how he plays them. (take that you bully!!) And he says, "Anyone can use Poker Tracker." And to this day I'm sure he doesn't believe I DON'T use Poker Tracker, which I don't. He swore I HAD TO BE data mining to know so much about his play, but it was all right there in my notes... He was a typical WEAK/TIGHT player who thought he invented poker. My notes said so and they were so right he thought I used some magical tool.
Here's ANOTHER great thing about rebuys. In freeze outs the players at your table will disappear and be replaced often even during the first hour. In a rebuy you're often with many of the same players for the entirely of the first hour and well into the 2nd. The bummer is when YOU get moved to a different table you have to start the note process again. Just start doing it!! The process of taking the notes and the value they offer will make you a poker genius. A REAL poker genius!
Also, and I'll put this in a paragraph by itself....
YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY DISTRACTIONS WHILE YOU PLAY A MTT!!!! Turn off the TV, shut down the email, get off the discussion boards, AND DON'T PLAY ANY OTHER GAMES. Soft music is OK if it doesn't distract you. You will be so busy during the entire tournament that you will not have time to talk, change a diaper, answer the phone or anything else. If you aren't prepared to focus all your energies 100% for the entirety of the tournament then don't play it.
NOTE: A REBUY TOURNAMENT CAN LAST 8 HOURS OR MORE!!! It takes 3 ½- 4 hours to get In The Money and another 3 to get to the final table. If you start a tournament at 8 pm then you don't Want to be done before 4 AM!!! If you're still playing at 3 AM then you're on the FINAL TABLE!!! And you're making big money. Don't play a late tourney if you have to work the next morning! And NEVER play ANY tournament unless you are mentally and physically prepared to win it - and that means TIME as well as focus.
SO WHAT DO WE DO AFTER THE REBUY PERIOD???
There are THREE NATURAL LAWS of Rebuy Tournaments. These laws are Natural laws, which means they are laws of nature and if you violate them you will be punished by Mother Earth, God, The Universe, or whatever higher power you believe in. Enough Said? Learn them and make them part of your soul.
1. RESPECT OTHER PLAYERS BETS. There will be some stealing of blinds and other "stuff" that happens. But, unless you have a good bead on what's going on then your default position is to respect their bets. Assume they have what they are implying they have with their bets. Never assume someone is "bluffing" unless you have information in your notes that you feel is reliable for this situation. If your notes say they are bluffing or whatever then see Law #2 below...
2. ATTACK OTHER PLAYERS WEAKNESSES AND FEARS. That's what your notes are for!!! They tell you what other players' weakness and fears are. It is your duty and a requirement of nature that you attack them. I don't say "exploit" because who the hell knows what that means. I say "Attack!" and that's what you should do. They will fold and you will win. You don't need cards. You just need your notes and the proper situation.
3. THE BIG STACK IS A SPECIAL RESOURCE THAT YOU SHOULD TREASURE. This means when YOU have a big stack of more than 20x the combined antes and blinds that you should not play fast and loose with your chips. LAWS 1 AND 2 STILL APPLY, but don't give big chunks of your big stack away. It's OK to play TIGHT, TIGHT, TIGHT with a big stack. You earned it, and by earning it you earned yourself TIME. If you have 20x the preflop pot (antes and blinds) then you typically have 2x or more the average stack size. If you were to do nothing but maintain your present stack then YOU HAVE ONE FULL HOUR before you'll be even an average stack, much less a small stack. If the combined antes and blinds are 900 chips and you have 20,000 chips and you did just enough to keep yourself at 20,000 chips for the next hour then you'll be an hour deeper into the tournament and still in reasonable shape to continue. Imagine what could happen in an hour, what cards might come your way, what opportunities might present themselves!! If you waste the big stack by loose calling of preflop raises and pushes of smaller stacks or trying to bully the table then you're throwing away YOUR BANKED AND SAVED TIME!!
The big stack is valuable because it's THERE. It gives all your bets, limps and calls a much heavier weight. It intimidates smaller stacks by its mere EXISTENCE. They know that if they go up against you that you can put them out of the tournament. Which means when they are willing to go up against you they have a strong hand!!! Wouldn't you want a strong hand to take on a monster stack? They do too!! Would you go headlong into a big stack with a weak hand? Neither would they!! You should be able to breathe on someone and blow them off a hand. If you breathe and they don't blow, then brother you better be prepared to double them up and hurt yourself or you need to goods to win the hand. Luckily with the big stack you have the TIME to GET the goods. So use the time that nature, God, and the Universe have given you. Don't piss it away.
Following these three laws you and use the Harrington On Holdem chart (I created it and it’s right here on the site) to continue playing the tournament, ALONG WITH YOUR NOTES!!! AND AGAIN, you are going to follow the 3 Natural Laws above. Got it? Done!!!
There is an opposite of the big stack law and that is the small stack rule. The big stack is 20x the preflop pot.... Notice I don't say 20x the Big Blind. I said 20x the PREFLOP POT with blinds and antes. Once Antes kick in notice that the preflop pot is much larger than the blind. If the blinds are 400/800 with a 50 chip ante (9 player tables) then the preflop pot is 1200 plus 450, or 1650 chips. Notice 10xBB is 8000 but 10x the preflop pot is over 16000. So the "big stack" in this example is 33,000 chips or more.
So the small stack rule is anytime you have less than 5x the preflop pot (blinds plus antes) you have to MOVE and you have to MOVE NOW. While the big stack is a valuable resource that must be treasured. The small stack is a useless rodent that must be flung away. In other words PUSH!!! If you have 39 against AK you are only a slight underdog. You pair your 3 and you've doubled up. On the other hand, if you don't PUSH and push NOW, then your micro stack will evaporate to uselessness, so even when you do double up YOU'RE STILL A MICRO STACK!!!! You have gotten nowhere. So, PUSH AND PUSH AGAIN AND PUSH AGAIN. You're chances of continuing in the tournament may be slim, but if you don't act NOW then they will be NONE!!
So, under 5x PF pot you're job is to push regardless of the opportunity. Period
6-10x PF pot you are in a danger zone and should be willing to push at any fair opportunity. If you're in late position and it's limped to you... PUSH. If you get ATs in EP, push. If you have 66, push!
10x-20x PF pot you are in fine shape to play Harrington on Holdem Chart.
20x+ PF pot, the big stack Natural Law comes into effect.
CONCLUSION
Can you believe that's all there is to playing rebuy tournaments? Well, I'm sure there's more once you get fairly late in the tourney. There's timing and feel once the blinds get to 10,000/20,000 with a 1,000 chip ante. And obviously when the tourney gets to less than 27 players you're going to be moving into short-handed play territory. But, can I assume that you won't mind being thrilled when your $9.30 entry has turned into $72 and you’re making a final table run to let whatever experience you have be your guide?
Also, people get freaked out by how many chips are required to get to final table – easily a Million or more in a big rebuy. But, don’t worry. They will come!! You don’t have to get them all NOW! As the blinds increase the average stack size will increase the average pot will increase and your stack will increase. Don’t freak out; keep doing what got you here!!
And finally, there is LUCK involved in any tournament. You can't go 8 hours without having some go for you and some go against you. Additionally, you don't win them all. If you execute this strategy then you should see at least a 20% ITM%. Obviously, you won't execute it perfectly all the time. But when you make mistakes, learn from them!!! And better yet, as you study the tournament unfolding before your very eyes, learn from other's mistakes. As they fall away or lose big chunks of their chips ask yourself what Natural Law of Rebuy Tournaments they ignored or how if they kept quality notes they wouldn't have done such a bone-head move against THAT guy in THAT situation. Hopefully THAT GUY is YOU!!
The true value of rebuy tourneys is how much they pay when you make the final table. It’s not for the feint-hearted, but when you do it it’s ohhh soooo sweet!!! And you can do it. You’ll do it by your 100th tourney, no problem. So, let’s assume you make the middle of the field for an average take of $50 20% of the time in a $3 rebuy that costs an average of $12. Then over 100 tourney’s you’ve made 20x$50 = $1000 and you’ve invested 100x$12= $1200 and you make one final table for (5th place) for another $1200. You’re net $1000!!! Improve on any of those numbers and you’re even better! (Even the TIGHT/WEAK guy I used in my story placed 4th in a tourney according to www.thepokerdb.com, and he sucked.)
I love poker. I believe it has the ability to change lives and give financial opportunities to those who would not otherwise have them (like me)! That's why I do what I do. When I play a ring game, or a tournament, or explore a new poker site I always think, "What can I teach from this? How can I make this useful for the average player?" and then I try to do it.
I support YOU! If you want to support www.performpoker.com then please use the affiliate links on this site to try new poker destinations, share Performance Poker with others, and share your success stories and where you got that one thing that made it possible. Hopefully it was here!
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