Tourney Home Tournaments and Re-buys (1 Viewer)

[Poker1878]

Hey everyone,

Just looking for some opinions on re-buys at home tournaments. I have hosted a handful of home tournaments and I have never had the re-buy option. Not because I am opposed to the idea of a re-buy, it’s just I have never come up with any set rules on a re-buy. Such as till what level can the players re-buy at? I had one player trying to re-buy back into my last tournament for double the buy In because he just wanted to play more and or was just on tilt. Do any of you guys offer the re-buy option in home tournaments? If so how do you go about it?

Thanks guys,

-Poker1878

 

[grantc54]

I incorporated a rebuy into my game that is included in the buyin. If it is unused by 1st break it becomes an addon. This allows players to get a fair amount of play in, and since it is included noone feels like those with deeper pockets have an unfair advantage.

So far it has worked well.

 

[Gobbs]

I incorporated a rebuy into my game that is included in the buyin. If it is unused by 1st break it becomes an addon. This allows players to get a fair amount of play in, and since it is included noone feels like those with deeper pockets have an unfair advantage.

So far it has worked well.

I’m a big fan of this option with one clarification and one caveat.

First, technically, this is a reload, not a rebuy. You don’t have to pay a second entry fee to reload.

Second, my preference is that, if the reload chip is used, you get a stack equal to the starting stack, but if it’s not used, you get a free add-on 20-30 percent higher than the starting stack. This gives players a fail safe if they get felted but an incentive not to get felted.

 

[Justin Olson]

I play in a couple different variations,

1st is a little $20 turbo tourney, 15 min rounds, unlimited re-buys through first 3 rounds.
2nd version is one single re-buy through 1st 8 rounds of a well run well structured deep stack tourney.

Whatever you do, just post the rules and stand bye them.

 

[Al Azouri]

Most home and charity poker tournaments I play in offer unlimited rebuys for the first 3-4 levels and an add-on at the end of the rebuy period. The rebuys and add-one cost the same as the entry fee and gets you a full starting stack. You have to be out of chips to rebuy. In tournaments like these I find that we end up averaging 2.5 stacks per player, so I take that into account when I design the blind structure.

 

[Max D]

- We offer 1 rebuy per player.
- Each player gets a rebuy chip.
-If you get knocked out or relinquish your chips you can re-enter same price, same number of chips as a starting stack.
- At the end of the fourth level if you have not rebought you relinquish your re-buy chip for a free add-own worth ~20% of the original stack.
This allows people to rebuy, but also helps against shove fest since people not rebuying know they are getting some chips if they don’t.

 

[trigs]

In the past I've played home game tournaments where one buy-in gets you something like T10,000 in chips and one T10,000 lammer that you can either cash in for chips right away or keep it to use later or when you bust. At a certain point (like first break) everyone who still has a lammer must cash it in for chips. So it's kind of like an alternative to the standard rebuy.

 

[phdlance]

We don't like rebuys for home tournaments. It caused people to play recklessly very early ... we've had all-in's on the first hand multiple times!

 

[Al Azouri]

We don't like rebuys for home tournaments. It caused people to play recklessly very early ... we've had all-in's on the first hand multiple times!

I think that's the point for those who choose to have them. That, and it juices up the prize pool.

 

[BGinGA]

We don't like rebuys for home tournaments. It caused people to play recklessly very early ... we've had all-in's on the first hand multiple times!

I think that's the point for those who choose to have them. That, and it juices up the prize pool.

Common misconceptions, although an event can certainly be structured to encourage such responses.

But not all re-buy tournament structures result in loose play and/or multiple re-buys -- some merely provide some protection against cooler or bad-beat hands, without otherwise affecting the 'normal' course of play during the event.

Tailoring a re-buy event to produce desired outcomes also involves appropriately setting other variables such as starting BBs, blind/ante aggression levels, and entry/re-entry costs, beyond just simply allowing re-buys.

 

[TexRex]

I agree with BG. We rarely play with re-buys. Our structures are not designed to juice the prize pool, but to give those who maybe took a bad beat a second chance.

BG, I'd like it if you gave some guidance on how to put together variables depending on the purpose of offeringr re-buys. For example, comparing a structure designed to not just encourage re-buys, but a range of how many re-buys percentage-wise with a structure, vs. one designed as just a second chance. I'd love guidance how many chips a player gets compared to the original stack too.

 

[Al Azouri]

Common misconceptions, although an event can certainly be structured to encourage such responses.

But not all re-buy tournament structures result in loose play and/or multiple re-buys -- some merely provide some protection against cooler or bad-beat hands, without otherwise affecting the 'normal' course of play during the event.

Tailoring a re-buy event to produce desired outcomes also involves appropriately setting other variables such as starting BBs, blind/ante aggression levels, and entry/re-entry costs, beyond just simply allowing re-buys.

Interesting. I’ve only structured rebuys and add-ons when the purpose was to juice the pot ( for charity events and the like). In your experience, how do you structure for bad beat protection? Do you just limit the rebuys? Do you allow them for fewer levels? I use a fairly gentle blind progression - increasing blinds but never doubling.

 

[BGinGA]

Limiting the re-buys per person and restricting them to a relatively short time period, using large starting stacks (relative to blind/ante amounts), gradual and consistent blind increases, and meaningful entry/re-buy costs are ways to minimize the bingo-poker effect that can often be observed in events that feature multiple and inexpensive re-buys with relatively short stacks and rapidly escalating blinds.

 

[Blind Joe]

We don't like rebuys for home tournaments. It caused people to play recklessly very early ... we've had all-in's on the first hand multiple times!

We use rebuys and I'll admit we do have some fairly loose play in the first couple of levels, not always but often enough to notice. I couldn't say for certain that it's the rebuy causing this but I wouldn't argue with anyone who suggested it was. It's perfectly feasible that knowing you've got the safety net of a rebuy will influence risk taking, but when limited to one rebuy per player I would hope that this effect would be somewhat tempered.

For me personally the main reason I don't ever run freeze outs is because we're a small group of friends and I want everyone to have a reasonable amount of play and enjoy the night rather than buy in then spend most of the night as a spectator.