Strategies for Insanse Turbo Rebuy Freerolls

This is one insane freeroll... Doyle's Room, Full Tilt, probably Stars all have something close to this:

Rebuys allowed first 15 minutes ($0.10).
One add-on allowed.
Blinds escalate every 3 minutes.
There are no antes.
Tables are 6-handed.
Top 90 are paid, ~3000 may enter.

Now, the CHALLENGE of this is to get ITM WITHOUT the buy-in or the add-on.

I see two options here:

1. Tight play with a once-an-orbit steal. You raise once an orbit at the ideal time. The ideal time could be J-4o on the small blind... or it could be UTG +1 with JJ. The idea is to try to steal enough of the blinds to sustain yourself while you hold out for premium hands.

If you're the type of person who gets married to his AA, KK or AK suited, you can't use this strategy. You're overly apt to make a bad decision when you should really be letting go of your hand.

The really BIG problem this strategy has in this structure occurs when people are shoving left and right. Because of the menial $0.10 rebuy, people aren't afraid to shove holding an Ace with a weak kicker or a J-10o. If you're at one such table, this strategy won't work at all. You'll just bleed out.

2. Play your position more than your cards. This is how I like to play poker in a regular tournament with high blinds and antes. You need to take those blinds and pots down whether you have the cards in your hand or not. Make continuation bets, and not small ones that let people draw. Make 3/4-full pot sized bets and take them pots down.

Here, you have to know when you're beat and when someone else is willing to put all of their chips in the middle. The difference between this and Strategy #1 is that here, you're trying to steal the blinds/pot 3 or more times per orbit. At the higher blind levels, that can be a LOT of extra chips.

Problem is, there's no ante. Without an ante, stealing becomes MUCH less profitable. And... you have those psycho-shovers. You raise, trying to steal that pot and... he shoves. You try it a little later... he shoves. Again... he shoves. He couldn't have had you beat all three times.

3. Controlled Psychosis. Play like strategy #1, but when put in a situation which would obviously result in a 50/50... shove. This might get some opponents to back off and allow you to take down more blinds/pots and progress to strategy #2, where you're actually making a profit off of your stealing, rather than off of your hands. Most of your shoves will be pre-flop; ie, button raises your big blind, you hold a 9-9.

Unfortunately, the psycho-shovers will call you and you'll be down to a coin toss. But at least you'll stand a chance.

This could also result in you getting put in situations that are EXTREMELY disadvantageous (ie button shows J-J).




Are there any other ways to go about these tournaments?

There are no rebuys under $3 on stars. There are .10 and freeroll turbos. I just try to win a bunch of 70/30's and several coinflips. I know this isn't helpful, but I'm tired. BTW I'm one of those people that gets married to AA/KK/AKs because its allin preflop.

Be ultra aggressive otherwise the blinds will catch up to you. You're at a huge disadvantage if you don't want to rebuy.

I have tried different strategies and stuck it out. Most of the time this doesn't get you to final table. You have vary tactics to keep opposition from reading your style. I find this works much better in the long haul. I have no luck with preflop allin my percentage of win is below 30 percent, even with AA, KK, pairs much higher percentage with AK suited more outs my guess. I enjoy the speed of these games other rolls sometimes get so slow they bore you and wear you patience thin.

I find the best strategy is patience and picking my spots, and when I do to be very aggressive in doing so.

just shove in rebuy period until you have about 3-4X the average stack, that is likely your only chance of running deep

Aggression is deffently another key factor. The more aggressive you are the better the odds are for you. Basically the more pots and blinds you can steal the better off you are. I have always enjoyed those types of tourneys, I wish you luck.