How to Run a Rebuy Texas Holdem Poker Tourney

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How to Run a Rebuy Texas Holdem Poker Tourney

Posted on 12 12, 2007 under Mantivities by foodad | Comments

Running your own poker tournament can be a lot of fun, but if you do not think it through, it can be a real drag. This is the second article in my poker at home series. This time we are talking about how to run a rebuy tournament. A rebuy tourney allows people to get more chips when they run out. This means that people who lose all of their chips can get more chips and keep playing. The great thing about this method is that you can do it on a work night. I have learned a lot about hosting poker games since I wrote the last installment so I’ll try to impart all of this “wisdom” here.

Chips

Start each player with 4,000 in chips. The denominations should be four 25s, four 100s, three 500s and two 1,000s. As needed, the dealer can make change for players who run out of small chips or players can do it amongst themselves.

Betting

Some guidelines. If a player wants to make a $50 bet and they don’t have a $50 chip, just tell say the amount of the bet, then put the smallest chip they have on the table. If players throw a chip that is more than the either the bet on the table or the minimum bet, it is assumed to be a call or the minimum bet. This prevents people from fishing to see what would happen without risking a ton of chips. Here’s an example. Blinds are 100/200. Phil raises to 200 and Chad tosses in a 1000 chip without saying anything. Chad’s bet is 200. If Chad wanted to raise, he should say raise to 500, 800, 1000 etc and then put his chip in.

Have each player announce a raise before they make a raise. This keeps them from getting a reaction from the rest of the table when you ask them if that 1000 chip is really a 1000 bet. Tell them they can stack their chips all they want behind their hand. They can then make one move to the pot with their chips. Alternately, they can announce their bet and then make as many moves as they need to put the right amount of chips into the pot.

If you have anyone who whines, just remind them that this is the way they do it in places like Foxwoods.

Blinds and Coloring in Chips

Run each level for 20-25 minutes. This keeps the play moving. I like to use the following levels: 25/50, 50/100, 150/300, 200/400, 400/800, 500/1000, 1000/2000, 2000/4000. At the end of the 150/300 round, I ask everyone to put their 25s in stacks of four. I then color each stack in with 100s. I round any odd numbered stack (less than 4 chips) up to 100. Bonus! At the 500/1000 round, I do the same with the 100 chips, rounding stacks of less than 5 chips up to 500.

Rebuy

There are a couple of different ways to do this. You can give each player a set amount of rebuys, you can have a rebuy pool that cannot be exceeded (for example: there are up to 5 rebuys available). You can allow players to use half rebuys or whole rebuys. The pool method is fun because sometimes you have a guy who really wants to stay in, but he keeps going out. Only use this if you are sure that your friend is not going to get into a lot of trouble with the wife if he ends up spending GP50 on poker. The friendly way to do it is to let each player have 1 rebuy that they can use if they fall into the rebuy guidelines. I have also seen tourneys that allow an add-on at the break. This is just like a rebuy, except anyone can do it. Just make sure that you are not collecting ridiculous amounts of GP in a friendly game. The more that comes out of a player’s wallet err… pocket the more opportunities to take it from a fun and friendly to serious game you have.

Payouts

Try and have at least 6 and no more than 10 players. Ten players is the ideal amount. This means that you can cash out 3 places. Since gambling is illegal and not condoned at noodad.com, we will assume that all talk of money is actually Good and Plentys. So let’s say that your buyin is GP10. You should try to make it so that every place you pay makes more than GP10. Ideally, if you have 10 players you do a 5-3-2. First place is GP50, second takes GP30 and third is GP20. If you have fewer players, pay fewer places. In a rebuy tourney, you can add the rebuys various, pre-agreed upon positions. Let’s say we have 6 players. Once I have collected all the GP buyins, I would then announce the payouts are GP50 for first, GP10 for second. The first full rebuy goes to second place and all remaining go to first place.

You can play a rebuy tourney with turbo blinds in about 2-3 hours so plan accordingly. Have fun noodads! If you have questions, just ask them in the comments and I will respond. Also, please subscribe to our new RSS feeds for articles and comments. See the toolbar on the right for details.