Rebuy tournaments operate quite differently from no rebuy tournaments. In a rebuy you typically have a shortened chip stack compared to what you’d start with in a regular tournament. Rounds are shorter and after the end of the rebuy rounds there’s typically an addon available as well.

Let’s say for instance that you start with 5,000 chips in a normal tournament. In a rebuy you’ll have somewhere closer to 500 – 1,000 starting chips. The blinds will increase quickly and if you don’t play a hand you’ll be out by the 4th round, if not sooner. The thing about rebuy tournaments is that you do have the option to go broke in the beginning or amount a good amount of chips. Taking risks is more important in the early rounds as you’ll need those chips for later on.

Bring enough money to buy back in as well as addon. You want to double through at least once before the rebuy period ends, if not twice. If you go broke in round three, you can always rebuy, and (in some poker rooms) you’ll wind up with more chips than you started with. Be prepared to addon before round four starts as well. You’ll want these chips for the later rounds as well.

Basically loosten up for the rebuy in the beginning. Any ace is worth more, as are KQ, QJ, etc. Hands that you may not typically move all in with become more worth it. If you go broke, big deal buy back in. Once the addon round has ended play as though you typically would. Those who play a lot of rebuys know the cost to win will be greater than the original buy in. If you can double through a total of three times before the addon, you’ll have an excellent chip stack if you addon as well. You need a lot of chips to survive later on as blinds increase quickly. Unlike in ultra sit n go’s where you can simply wait for players to eliminate eachother, you have to mix it up in the beginning with the maniacs and play as a maniac yourself. Later on you can tighten up, but you need to be loose aggressive in the beginning. Personally I wouldn’t recommend buying in more than once as if you buy back in a few times you’re just throwing away cash. If you went broke twice, that day is just not your day.

Remember, for a rebuy tournament bring extra cash so you can rebuy and addon.