Rebuy Online Casino Tournaments

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Many online casino tournaments are classified as "rebuy" tournaments and have a rebuy fee specified along with the other parameters. This article will help new players in understanding what rebuy tournaments are, how they operate and the strategies to be employed by participating in them.

In the straightforward online tournaments players are given a starting chip stack and a time limit in which to wager on a specified game. Their chip balance at the end of the specified time is their score and this is compared with the scores of the other players to decide the winners. If a player loses all his chips before the time limit has expired his score is zero and he is scratched out from the tournament. Rebuy tournaments offer such players another chance, or several more chances, of the entering the tournament at a cost. This cost is the rebuy fee and is the most important parameter to be understood when discussing rebuy tournaments.

The rebuy fee is the amount of the player has to pay to be able to participate in the tournament again. Since many players rebuy a number of times in the same tournament, the rebuy fee helps the casino to recover the guaranteed prize pool. In pot prize online tournaments the rebuy fee helps the pot pool to grow to reasonable amounts. Usually the rebuy fee is the same as the buy in or the entry fee for the tournament. However in some freeroll online tournaments that offer large prize pools there can be a stiff rebuy fee to make up for the free first entry.

Rebuys cannot be used to build up chip stacks in the sense that a player cannot keep on purchasing rebuys and adding to his chip balance. That would eliminate the fun and competitive spirit in the online tournament. Therefore most online tournaments allow rebuys only when the player has depleted his existing chip stack. Some online tournaments allow players to rebuy when they have a very nominal chip balance. The chip stack given to the player on purchasing a rebuy is the same as the original chip stack. This is essential to maintain uniformity and fairness.

There are two types of rebuy tournaments. One type allows unlimited number of rebuys and the other type specifies the number of times the player can rebuy. Though unlimited rebuy tournaments leads to larger prize pools they tend to favor high rollers or players with larger bankrolls. Players who have limited bankrolls find themselves at a disadvantage. In order to neutralize this some rebuy tournaments limit the number of rebuys. This allows players to have another chance to counter the bad luck they may have faced early on. At the same time it limits the advantage to the high rollers and therefore provides a balanced approach.

Players participating in the by tournaments should have two issues very clear in their minds before they start. The first is the target chip balance they would like to achieve. This can be based on the past history of online tournaments that are similarly structured. Once players achieve this target then it makes no sense to rebuy further. It is unlikely that they will better the score by playing again. In unlimited rebuy tournaments players should enter having decided the maximum number of rebuys they will purchase. This should be based on their bankroll for the tournament. Once this number has been reached players should resist the temptation to purchase further rebuys.

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