Well going with my own strategy after playing them 24/7 I have to agree with WEC, I rebuy from the start, giving me 3000 chips as the first hr many are trying to double up, I sit and wait for that moment which almost 100% of the time it happens. I also do an automatic add-on no matter what my chip stack is at break.
When and if I lose my originial 3000 chips, I do a double rebuy again and play real tight till the end of the first break, add-on and then hope for a double up in the 2nd hr.
It's been working for me, top 100/3000 in last two attempts.
I have also had a lot of success with this type of strategy - this is how I play most of the time.
I think that choosing to buy in only once is an interesting strategy - if you
always play for a single buy-in, you are getting a huge overlay when you cash. While you are not maximizing your potential to win any particular tournament, you have 3x as many opportunities to get lucky and hit a big score. This could be especially useful if you have a limited
bankroll. Even though I don't play this way, I can see how someone could make it work.
Here's what I do:
I always take the initial rebuy because I want to start out having everyone covered. This allows me to win the maximum possible when I have a good hand. I won't play a rebuy if my bankroll can't handle the initial maximum rebuys plus the add-ons at the break.
During the first hour, I never put in the first raise. I'll limp with a range of hands - if someone raises after me, I will choose to fold, call or reraise depending on what I am holding. I'll call most reasonable raises to see a flop, but I'm looking to hit the flop hard or dump my hand. I'm not looking to race or
bluff much during the rebuy period.
As the blinds go up, I'll generally tighten up my hand selection, and I'm playing my normal tournament hand selection as we approach the first break. I also rarely get involved in a hand during the last 5 minutes of the rebuy period, as the short-stacks are trying to double-up or dump chips for one last rebuy.
At the break, I always rebuy if I am short enough (although I rarely find that I have less chips at the break than I start with) and always take the maximum add-on, no matter how many chips I have. The value in the extra chips is two-fold. First, every time you double-up, those chips go to work for you. They will multiply many times over as you continue to accumulate chips. Secondly, when you make it to the money, these extra chips will almost always more than pay for themselves by allowing you to move further into the payout structure.
Once the rebuy period is over, I play my standard MTT strategy, but look out for people who have not adjusted to the end of the rebuy period. I'll stay out of the way of the people who are still playing like a maniac unless I have a super-premium hand, since my goal is to keep the pot sizes reasonable and build my stack by playing poker instead of bingo.