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Re-Buy Multi Table Tournaments (MTT’s) are considered by most to be the ugly duckling of the MTT Online Poker world. Ask anyone that has ever played in one and I am sure they have seen the “super aggressive beyond loose play” that is most common in this format. Players tend to buy-in with the intent of doubling up with any 2 cards early and its not uncommon to see top 5 hands beaten by one of several inferior hands early on! The thought of losing their stack is of no worry to them as they seem to have more dollars than sense and will happily by back in without a second thought.

This is the reason many decent players avoid re-buy tournaments due to the obvious likelihood that their solid game is at some stage going to be busted by an inferior players utter stupidity. Yet it is these same decent players that go sitting at a cash table wanting to play these fish! Nobody with any sense wants to jump on a cash table full of players with the same ability and style as theirselves or the only winner is the rake. So players hunt out tables with loose fish and want them to be calling down pocket aces with pocket 2’s.

I have found through my time of playing MTT’s that re-buys are often the most bang for the buck due to the fact many carry a guarantee and good players steer clear of them! I will happily pit my wits against a bunch of blithering idiots that want to play 27os allin on the 1st hand. The fish to solid ratio is well over 5-1 from experience and I am sure most of you cash players would be happy to sit at the table with only one other player of equal ability and 8 muppeteers!

Here are some tips in my basic strategy that I have followed in my pursuit of re-buy glory.

1. Enter the game with an upbeat frame of mind and expect to lose a hand or 2. If you are expecting to lose, you will find yourself laughing rather than tilting when your aces are cracked by 45 suited.
2. Do not be tempted to play hands you normally wouldn’t just because the play is looser. You should not join the feast!
3. Play only premium hands for the rebuy period unless you have amounted a solid stack and can start pushing your weight around!
4. If you find you have not played a single hand in the first hour it is far from a bad thing as most of the fish are starting to ween out. The blinds have been low so you haven’t lost too much of your stack plus you can easily purchase an add-on to boost your chips.
5. And the final rule of thumb is to never re-buy past the final cash spot. If 10th spot is worth $20 you do not want to spend $30 rebuying!

Hopefully this has helped you to understand the re-buy format a bit better and the possibilities of financial reward should you be willing to put in the time and take the beats in a positive manner! Good luck with it all and happy pokering!

Ali-G is a walking book of knowledge when it comes to poker sites, forums, and freerolls. He knows the ins and outs of what is occuring in the world of online poker, and is happy to share his secrets.