Should you always buy the “Add on” in Tourneys?

In most rebuy tournaments, at the end of the rebuy period you are allowed to Add on to your chip stack by paying the tournament buy in again.

Of course if you make it this far and you’re short stacked. You’re best chance of winning is to use an Add on to hopefully get a medium stack.

But what about when you are in the top 4-5 spots. Do you think it’s smart, and practical to use the Add on for large stacks as well?

Just a side note story to add: Today I was playing a rebuy tournament on Global Poker and was 4th out of like 70 players at the Add on break period.

Top 15 spots paid.

There are not as much chips to go around like there are on pokerstars so you don’t see many players with 40 blind stacks unless you are in the top couple spots.

So I decided to add on to my stack. Well a couple spots before the money I lost close to all off my chips On a flush vs full house.

I ended up busting 15th, just barely cashing and still profited a tiny bit.

If I didn’t choose to add on chips it’s highly likely I would’ve busted beforehand as I squeezed into the money with maybe 2 or 3 blinds.

I think you said it well. I almost always add on.

On 888 poker the add-on is twice the original chip stack. So for the add-on to not be profitable, the ICM value of additional chips have to be less than half the ICM value of the other chips in the tournament. Its pretty difficult to imagine any realistic scenario, where that is the case. Usually even the chip leader is not that far ahead.

The only time I haven't used the add-on is when I didn't have enough to get one.

I personally try to avoid these type of tournaments but its getting harder and harder to avoid. The only time I dont do the add on is if I am so sort that the add on does not make my stack big enough to the blind level.