No more re buys

[Snatiramas]

For me the equation is very simple (no surprise there) in live tournies. Do I want to play or do I want to go home? This whole question comes down to a much bigger question. Why do you play? If you look at the answers to date, they all make the assumption that we are all motivated to make as much money in every given situation as possible.
 Yet we all know that this is not everybody's motive for playing. Some people play for social reasons. Some for the competition. The option for not paying for an extra buy in for some people might be to play the tables in a casino.

Hmmmm what value there.

[thetank]

Having said that, I feel the need to explain what I mean by this.....

You estimate (given the other factors) that you have a 2% equity in the prize pool if you rebuy.

That's not to say you have a 2% chance of winning the comp.

To clarify imagine a relatively simple payout structure where the top 2 pay on a 75%/25% structure.

At no point in the tournament will it be possible to have over 75% equity in the prizepool. (That's the most you can win)

If, at some point, you think there's a 10% chance of you finishing 1st, and a 10% chance of finishing 2nd. Your equity in the prize pool is 10% (7.5% + 2.5%)
If, at some point, you think there's a 5% chance of you finishing 1st, and a 10% chance of finishing 2nd. Your equity in the prize pool is 6.25% (3.75% + 2.5%)


I estimate the chance I'll parlay my one re-buy into a decent stack, and the chance I'll turn this decent stack into a cash finish. (to simplify things, at that that stage of the tournament, I'll assume my chances of finishing in each position is equal.)

So If I think I'll get a decent stack from my re-buy one time out of five, and I'll turn that decent stack into a cash finish one time out of 2, that makes my chance of cashing one in ten (or 10%).

So if we pay five prizes, I'll assume my equity in the prize pool is 2%, and go from there.



Obviously sometimes the chance of making a decent stack from one re-buy will be greater than one in five. I'll mostly consider the average stack when estimating this.

Similarly, the chance of cashing from a decent stack will not always be one in two. I'll mostly consider the number of players left when estimating this.

It's probably not that bad to assume it's always worth it. However, I prefer to make desicions concerning my purse strings with a certain degree of logic (or at least attempted logic), rather than faith that the value will always be there.

[Wardonkey]

I always re-buy providing I have the cash.

I rarely top-up if I'm not increasing my stack my 20% or more. I also consider the average stack at the table and the potential damage to the the bigger stacks. If the extra chips will give me a little extra 'folding equity' against the big stacks then I will usually re-buy.

[Rupert]

This is pretty much what I follow (from the 2+2 MTT anthology)

2+2ers generally like to take an immediate rebuy (double your stack before you play the first hand) but many don’t do this. Taking the add-on however is all but compulsory, the only real time you shouldn’t be taking it is when you have very few chips at the end of the rebuy period and have given up on cashing in the tournament. In other words, passing on the add-on is tantamount to giving up on the tournament completely.

When considering playing a rebuy, realize that you need to be budgeted to spend 3-4 times the buy-in at least, playing a rebuy as if it were a freezeout and quitting if you lose your chips is extremely ill-advised. In terms of how you want to play during the rebuy period, you shouldn’t depart from your regular game too much, some players like to slightly adjust their thinking and pretend their M is actually < 10 when it isn't. The main thing to do is take into consideration the way other people are playing and adjust accordingly, a lot of people play very loose/bad poker during the rebuy period determined to come out of it as the chip leader, you need to take advantage of that.

I always rebuy and always add-on except in some satellite situations

[thetank]

Even though I'll probably always re-buy too (assuming I have da cash) I enjoy thinking along the above lines.

It's half the fun for me....coz I'm odd.

[boldie]

Even though I'll probably always re-buy too (assuming I have da cash) I enjoy thinking along the above lines.

It's half the fun for me....coz I'm odd.

i won't argue with the odd part

you raise a fair point. For me though the prizepool is less important when considering it.\If I get 1k chips and average chips are 10k I don't see the point.
My Rebuy/topup MUST be able to hurt the other players at my table, otherwise I have very little option.

Also one thing to consider, size of the blinds. A rebuy + topup has to give you a fair shot at playing..I like to get atleast 20x BB for my topup and rebuy. (assuming I am down to 0)

I also have top be playing well...If I'm not I don't rebuy.