Interesting Rebuy Decision (Long)

NorCal B&M NLH weekday tournament, $40 buy-in, 1 $20 RB in the 1st 3 rounds, 1 $20 Add-on at end of 3rd round. Usually about 50 players, $2500 guaranteed/$1000 for 1st place $500 for 2nd, pays 9 spots. Extremely soft crowd - only a handful of players who really know what they're doing.


Biggest problem is that they only give you $500 in TC, and start the blinds at 25-50 - really only in Round 1 can you bet 4x the BB and then have any money to back it up after the flop (and even that is debatable). And, the $20RB only gets you the same $500 in chips, so during rounds 2/3, if you're forced to re-buy, you have even less power to wield.


So, question 1 is how would you change your betting strategy in Rounds 1/2/3 (Round 2 is 50-75, round 3 is 75-150)? I much more often just push it all in, rather than bet 3-4x the BB, because unless I've won a couple of hands, 3-4x the BB represents a minimum of 40% of my chips!


Question 2 - If you do make it to the end of Round 3 (usually 25% of the field busts before the break and can't take the add-on), and have the option to take both the RB and the AO, do you take both? The $20 AO gets you $1000 in TC (RB gets you $500).


My thinking on this is although I would normally always take the RB because I really feel that I am much stronger than the field, I often do not take it here because of the large size of the blinds from R4 on relative to the stack sizes. Those who take the RB/AO will have $1500 minimum, and rarely does more than 1 person at the table have more than $2500. Most players end up between $1750-$2250 after the AO. Given that R4 starts at 100/200, it seems to me that the extra 2.5BB is largely irrelevant most of the time, as rarely will you not be pushing your stack all in.


Am I way off here?


Thanks in advance for responses...


DrJ

Does this format mean that if you go broke twice in the first 3 rounds, you're eliminated? If it does, then super-tight play is called for here, and I agree with you that any raise you make should probably be all-in.


$40 for T500, then $20 for T500, then $20 for T1000 is what I'm reading.


What I would do is estimate the value of the chips in a typical day. You said 50 players, so that's T25,000 for $2,000, or 8 cents per chip. How many take the 1 rebuy? I'm going to pretend it's all of them, which means T25,000 for $1,000, or 4 cents per chip. Let's assume all of them add-on, though if you're out after busting twice that won't be the case. T50,000 for $1,000, or 2 cents per chip. We have a total of T100K for $4,000, which is 4 cents/chip.


So, the rebuy is pretty neutral under these assumptions, and the add-on is of course a great deal.


I'd say that if you're above average in ability, you should rebuy, as those chips that cost 4 cents apiece should be worth MORE than 4 cents per in your hands.


Of course, if everybody took the rebuy, but many folks failed to take the add-on (because they'd busted out again and were therefore absent), then the average cost of each chip would be more than 4 cents apiece, which means the rebuy is an even better value. On the other hand, if lots of these folks managed to survive the first 3 levels and took an add-on without taking a rebuy, the the cost of each chip would be less than 4 cents apiece, making the rebuy a bad deal.


BTW, I would talk to the person in charge at this casino and try to convince them to put a little more skill in the event. Doing so would probably attract an even larger field, as many folks, even those who are losing players and may benefit from this structure, don't enjoy crapshoot tournaments.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

Greg -


You're spot on as usual - in answer to your 1st question, you are eliminated if you go broke twice in the 1st 3 rounds.


Essentially, everybody takes the add-on who is still around - usually about 10 people out of 50 are eliminated before getting to take the add-on. I'd say 75% of the 40 who are still around at the end of Round 3 also take the RB if they haven't already done so to survive to that point. Given this, your calculations suggest taking the RB, if I'm reading them right.


Your last point is extremely valid, and I need to broach this with the tourney director - have a feeling it won't do any good, knowing this guy, but if enough of us complain about it, he might actually do something.


Thanks!


DrJ