After reading Poker Tournament Strategies by Sylvester Suzuki (a pen name), I came up with a few rules by which to play rebuy tournaments. After this, I've gone on a tear on the nightly $30+3 (9 handed) and $20+2 (6 handed) tourneys on FTP.

I know many players play by a predefined set of rules, and normally I'd say this is an incredibly bad way to play. If you can't react to your opponents, you wont keep your chips for long. By since the rebuy stage of a tournament invariably plays out the same way, I think it's safe to approach them with a predefined strategy.

So here they are:

1> Most rebuys allow a player to make an immediate rebuy, effectively starting with a double-stack. This is an absolute must, due to rule #2.

2> Unless you like blowing through buy-in after buy-in, do NOT fall victim to the all-in insanity. Players in rebuys will seemingly do anything to double up and build a stack. We're not here to play the lottery, we're here to play poker. So I play ultra-tight during the rebuy period and avoid the fray.

3> Play every pocket pair, regardless of position, hoping for a set. While we dont want to put our stacks at risk in fruitless attempts to double up, we still need to build a stack. Simply surviving the rebuy is not enough. Even with a double buy-in, you will be hopelessly low in chips compared to the competition. With as loose as the mob is invariably playing, you WILL double up every time you hit that set.

4> Dump every suited connector, regardless of position. Again, due to the ridiculously loose game, you will never be able to draw to make your hand. Even in those times when you hit four to a flush or str8 on the flop, you'll need to put in a significant portion of your chips to draw. I might even consider this one the most important rule!

5> Watch the clock. You can dictate just how loose your opponents will be. After the first 30 minutes, they'll tighten up a bit (still loose, but no more craziness). Then they'll return to the insanity in the last 10 minutes of rebuy.

6> Always do the add-on if the additional chips comprise more than 20% of your stack. The goal is to have at least 8K in chips by the beginning of normal play. Less than this and you'll be vulnerable.

7> Once normal play begins, unleash your inner maniac! Everyone else will be doing the exact opposite. Not only that, but they'll have you pegged as a complete nit at this point.


That about does it. My take on Suzuki's book, combined with my own strategy. I can't really say that Suzuki's book is a good one, but the few ideas he presented (over and over!) have made an incredible difference in my results. I can now directly attribute over 7k in wins over the last 2 months to these rules.

Does anyone else have any "Rules to Live By"?