I would be doing much better at poker if I didn’t play any multi table tournaments. Of course they’re very enticing because it’s possible to win a lot with very little at risk. On the other hand, it’s really tough to make it to the few who get paid. Even then, the payouts are heavily weighted to the first three finishers.
It doesn’t happen often… certainly not for me.
For the past three nights I’ve been playing in a $3 + rebuy tournament. It looks like it should only cost $3 – and it could. Realistically it costs $9. For many people it costs even more.
As long as you have the $1500 in tournament chips (what you’re given to start) you can rebuy another $1500 in chips for $3. So, as soon as I start, I rebuy. That way, if I should win the first hand, making me intelligible to rebuy, I’m already set.
At the end of the first hour you can ‘add-on’. That’s $2000 more in tournament chips for $3.
In tonight’s 11:59 PM tournament 646 entered. There were 1305 rebuys¹ and 367 add-ons for a total prize pool of $6,954. That number is in real dollars, not tournament chips.
Unlike most tournaments, in this one the prize, which went to the top 32 finishers, was an entry into another tournament. The entry is valued at $215 in a weekly tournament guaranteed to pay out at least $350,000!
These tournaments are interesting because there are waves of different play as the field is whittled down. If you’re in 25th place with 35 players left, do you dare risk busting out… even with Aces? There’s really no advantage to finishing high once you’re in the money.
Tonight, I played for 4:31, squeaking in and winning one of the 32entries. It was tough play and I was tempted more than once toward the end to go in with a good hand. I resisted.
As exciting as the $350,000 tournament sounds – it’s a bit rich for me. I’ve already taken the $215 entry fee and put it back in my account where it will pay for a lot of much smaller games.
¹ – If you bust during the first hour, you can rebuy. Because of that, a lot of people play recklessly in the first hour, hoping to double or triple their chips..