WSOP satellite - strategy question

[Rube]

I'm playing in a tournament this Saturday at Parker's in Seattle, and I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions on what adjustments I'll have to make since the format seems a little strange.

Details:

Winner gets $10,000 entry to WSOP with airfare and hotel
2nd-5th places get percentages of the remaining prize pool, I think it's 40% 30% 20% 10%

$135 entry plus $25 juice ($160 total) for T1000 chips

Three $50 rebuys/add-on for T1000 each. You can rebuy immediately at the start of the tourney, and anytime within the first hour if you are under T1000 chips. You can double rebuy/add-on anytime you lose all your chips or at the end of the first hour.

50 players at the Saturday tournament, 50 players on Sunday. They stop each tourney once it's down to 10 players, and the combined 20 players play on Tuesday in the finals.

Blinds are as follows:
25-50 20 minutes
50-100 20 minutes
100-200 20 minutes

--Break--
200-400 20 mins
300-600 20 mins
500-1000 20 mins

--Break-- (I can't remember the blind structure after this, but likely similar to the above, going up every 20 mins)

Questions:

With cheap add-on and high blinds (that move quickly) is rebuying immediately a no brainer?

With the blinds moving up so quickly, and only needing to get into the top 10 initially, should I play very conservatively and let people eliminate themselves?

Or should play very aggressively knowing I'll need a lot of chips to really compete?

Is this a total crapshoot?

Should I use "The System" in TPFAP?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

-Rube

[sawil]

I'm not sure if this is correct advise, but it's what I would do.

I would just buy in and not immeadiatly rebuy until I made a determination on how my opponents are going to play. Extra tight/passive I rebuy esp. if noone else at my table does. LAG table, I play tight a very agressive with my premium hands. That blind structure does'nt afford you the ability to wait very long. Position becomes that much more imporant esp. against the right players. Interestingly, with a cap on the rebuys, I would keep and eye on someone who has exausted his rebuys before the break. I would assume s/he would tighen up quite a bit. If I make the break I always add on here. While not a complete crapshoot, you do need the deck to hit you hard or get lucky a few times. My 2cents ... Good Luck!!

[banditbdl]

I would rebuy immediately and whenever possible without question. Hopefully, you can take the immediate rebuy to 2000, work your way up from there and then just take the double add-on at the break. If once you get into the final 20 they start everyone over with equal chips then a very tight strategy to get into the final 10 would be appropriate, but if you carry over your chip count you're gonna need to build a stack for once you arrive at the final 2 tables in order to make a run at the seat/money.

It is most likely gonna be a big time crapshoot with mostly preflop all-ins from about the 500-1000 level on by my estimates, but if you're better than the field your overlay should be plenty good with only $25 in juice on what's effectively a $235 or $285 buy-in.

[nolanfan34]

I'd concur with the previous post. But how do they handle the top-10 each day? Do you all start with the same chips in the Tuesday finals? And is that without rebuys at that point?

Either way, you're going to have to get some good cards with the blinds moving up so quickly.

Interesting format, good luck.

[Rube]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions so far. I think I'll buy-in as much as possible as quickly as possible.

For the Tuesday finals, you start with the same amount of chips you ended with on Saturday or Sunday. No additional rebuys or add-ons.

Knowing this, should I be aggressive early, knowing that only the top 5 places pay off and I'll need a lot of chips considering the size of the blinds?

Or would it be smarter to play conservatively, knowing the blind structure is going to knock out a ton of aggressive players, and hope to get lucky on Tuesday?

Thanks again for the insight, I'm an experienced limit player but I haven't played many tournaments.

-Rube

[mmahlin]

In most rebuy tourneys, I'll rebuy immediately and then try build modestly (or, of course, double through [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]) until the end of the add-on. The immediate rebuy gives you a little breathing room with your stack, and with the rapid rise in the blinds, you're gonna want some room to maneuver. Always take the add-on, who knows when those extra chips can come in handy.

As for aggressiveness, as much as you can, try to get a feel as soon as possible as to who's in there on a wing and a prayer and who knows what they're doing. I've seen people going all-in preflop with Ax and worse in rebuys like this, so hang tough and really trust your instincts.

Is it a crapshoot? Well, consider this structure, which they run up at the Tulalip:

Buy-in = 600T
Rebuys until break (equal to buy-in) = 700T (only after you drop below 600T - it's not available right off of the bat)
Add-on (equal to buy-in) = 1000T

Blinds:

1st 50/25 - 15 min
2nd 100/50 - 15 min
3rd 150/75 - 15 min
4th 200/100 - 15 min
etc.

Four people at one table went all-in on the first hand of the tourney. Oh, and there were twelve players per table.

Anyway, good luck, and may the best cards (hopefully yours) win,

M