Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

I see another post regarding rebuys that hasn't gotten any replies yet, and thought of posting this there, but I wanted to focus the subject a bit, so here goes.

The maniac strategy during the rebuy period is a widely utilized tactic amongst a number of very successful tournament players. Now, I have no idea what their ROI is, but by successful, I mean they have won quite a bit of prize money, and I figure they are making a healthy profit, although I think we have only seen the results of one of the players posted on this board. I have only one big cash in a rebuy during which I played fairly conservative during the rebuy period but was able to accumulate a decent stack mostly from one player who was going all in very frequently and losing nearly every hand. Since then I have begun to toy with the maniac strategy during the rebuy period in the Stars $10(although I don't get to play it much), $5, and $3 rebuys. I decided to try this after I realized that alot of good players were employing the maniac strategy. Among them are Stealurmoney, who I watched a few times, as well as Johnster, and after his big win, Zeejustin in a couple of tourneys. I also learned that Daniel Negreanu employed the maniac strategy at the WSOP in the $1000 rebuy, supposedly rebuying something like 20+ times, and eventually winning. For those unfamiliar with these players, they have all accumulated huge numbers on the Poker Stars leader board, and I think they are all well respected players generally. I'm sure there are many others on this board who utilize some form of what I am referring to as the maniac strategy, but the above are the only ones I have noted and observed a bit.

For rebuy tourney novices, the maniac strategy appears quite foolish, and it is extremely common to see comments in the rebuys regarding what donks the maniacs are. These comments are generally from weak-tight players who blind down to nothing and are out soon after the first break. For any novices reading this, I will briefly describe what I believe to be the basic strategy.

The maniac strategy involves going all-in very frequently regardless of what cards you hold, or nearly regardless, and hoping to get lucky on a couple hands in a row to accumulate a large stack during the rebuy. Going all in every hand for a stretch and rebuying back to 3,000 chips after every loss, many, many times, is not unusual, nor is it worrisome to the player. Once a certain level of chips has been reached, the player then slows down and reverts to typical play, whatever that may be for the player.

It seems to me that a couple of different variations of this strategy can be identified. One is the pure maniac who is comfortable going all in every hand until he has a certain level of chips. I have seen Stealurmoney and Johnster employ this strategy, and I'm sure you can find Zeejustin doing the same, as well as many other excellent players. When I say every hand, I mean every hand. I think I've seen all ins with 23off from the 3,000 stack level. I don't know exactly at what level the maniac slows down, but it is somewhat higher than 10,000.

I think I've seen Zeejustin play something like a modified maniac strategy in which he will go all in a few hands, but then slow down slightly hoping to catch a better hand after the earlier "advertising" plays and get a caller expecting him to turn over two random cards.

I have tried to employ the latter strategy a bit recently and did play a couple tourneys where my wild table image carried over past the first break into the freezeout stage and allowed me to take a guy's stack where I think he would've folded against most other players (or maybe he didn't notice anything and was a complete donk).

Rebuy novices can't understand how this strategy works, since the maniac is often giving away more chips than he ends up with during the rebuy, essentially offering an overlay to the other players at the table. But it works for the following reasons: 1. the poor players at the table assume the maniac to be on two random cards even when he picks up monsters and pay him off, 2. wrongly assume that he is on two random cards after he has accumulated a large stack and has tightened up, and 3. The maniac is a much better player who doesn't mind dumping alot of chips around the table because he can frequently get many of them back after the first break when the rebuy period ends, prior to the table being broken up even if the other players recognize that he has tightened up his play. In short, the maniac is assuming tremendous implied odds from his maniac strategy.

Thus, the maniac's return on investment is dependent on how likely the other players are to give the chips back to him that he "donked" off to them while playing like a maniac. For this reason, I don't think the maniac strategy is a good one for average or below average players who should play a more typical strategy. The average player or beginner should play a typical aggressive, but not maniac, strategy during the rebuy, adjusting for how loose the rest of the table is.

I know this has been long, and a waste of time for rebuy veterans, but it would be nice if a few successful players could add their thoughts. I'm particularly interested in at what chip count you think the "maniac" should revert to tighter, more typical play. I've seen Stealurmoney get up to over 10k and still play the maniac strategy. I think the typical player slows down at around the 10k-12 mark, that's what I have tried to do recently although I have also taken a few chances at gigantic pots with less than premium hands when it looks like the whole table has decided to play an all in pot.

I would also be interested to know whether anyone has tracked their ROI when employing the maniac strategy versus a more typical, tight, aggressive strategy during the rebuy period, basically trying to pick off the maniacs by calling them down with a tighter range of hands than they are pushing.

Sorry this has been a bit rambling. Hopefully this has helped some rebuy novices, and maybe some experts can refine this essay.

Holdemphile

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

hmmmm, I am a novice tourney player, and I love rebuys because of the maniacs giving chips away, but I can deffinitly see your point in this. Very interested to hear what the experienced MTT players will have to add to this.

Thanks for the good post

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

I'll add one comment.

I think the push any 2 till you have 20K strategy is -EV.

I think the push any 2 broadway/PP/good holding strategy and usually end up spending 51-91$ in the 11R's is +EV for a good player.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

To tie my "Strategy Adjustments in Rebuy Tournaments" post into this one (and I thank you for putting it up, very helpful):

As a semi-novice, would you recommend that I play closer to my freezeout tournament strategy tonight - especially since this'll be my first rebuy tournament?

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

Metronome,

I don't profess to be an expert on rebuys. I am certainly up in them since I won one (2nd actually I think in a 3 way split) but I am not an expert. That said, this is what I think a beginner should do. If your table is somewhat wild, with alot of all ins preflop, note the ranges that loose players are pushing and loosen up your calling range accordingly so that you are calling with a somewhat tighter range than they are pushing. For example, at an aggressive table, assume AQ=AK and that 10-10=Q-Q or something like that. You should gradually tighten up as your stack increases.

Good luck.

Holdemphile

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

Because this approach is used by certain strong pros like Daniel Negreanu doesn't mean it is genrerally a good approach. Like I am not going to follow his guidelines on starting hand selection.

It only works if you play much better than the rest of the table.

I follow an approach of push AK and JJ or better. It works pretty well against peopel playing push broadway cards and pps. My range plays well against those hands. All I have to do is initial rebuy and double up once in the rebuy period and I have a reasonable stack

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

I play the maniac strategy although I don't push any two. I usually only push hands with some potential of winning a pot. I also tighten up gradually as I get a bigger stack, but I don't start playing normally until I reach 15-20k.
I've won two rebuys in the last 3 months. I'm pretty sure I had accumulated a large stack in both of those wins (the second time I had 48k at the break!).
The strange thing is, I'm NOT good enough to get the chips back in the second hour, as I've frequently learned. The second hour is a minefield for me: I invariably donk off 5k-10k in chips somehow, probably because I no longer have FE at my table and every so often I try to make a move that doesn't work. (In fact, I once sat out the entire second hour while I changed locations, figuring that losing 2k in blinds was better than I normally perform.)

If I could play better in the 2nd hour, this would be even better. But I still have lots of holes in my poker game. Figuring out what loose donks are calling my preflop and continuation bets with is a big one.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

I used to play rebuys more often, I used the modified maniac strategy. But it all depends on how loose the players at the table are. At a table where there are at least 2 other players willing to go all in with me, then if I think I have 2 live cards, I would go all in along with them, hoping to triple, quadruple up. I would do this until I have 10k or more chips, then I would start targeting the players with low chip stacks and gamble with them more. Against bigger stacks, I would wait for a big hand, hoping my loose image will allow me to double my big stack again.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

Nath,

Do you play on Stars, and if so what is your screen name?

Holdemphile

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

The rebuy tourney is not a sprint, it is a marathon. It takes almost 4 hours to get to the bubble. At that point blinds are 2000/4000 and 200 antes. The maniac strategy will work only for someone who is a good player to begin with. A weak player who gets lucky in the first hour and accumulates 40K in chips is no more likely to make the money than a solid player who slowly increases his stack round by round. Near the bubble, a 40K stack can be lost in one or two hands.

I loosen up in the rebuy period somewhat, but I still want to win showdowns against a maniac, so I loosen up on the gap principle. But, I prefer to take advantage of the maniacs since on average I will go in with a better starting hand once I have identified who the maniacs are.

Being observant at the table, you can see the subtle ajustment the quality players make when throttling back on the maniac style. Plus, I look up the players (in real time) to see who is a "good player" maniac and a "donk" maniac.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

Im pushing any 2, because I wont get knocked out and its fun. I havent even thought about it in terms of EV since all investments probably are +EV in rebuy tournements. Atleast 40% of the field is deadmoney(in pokerstars 25 and 40k).
In my experience you just need to follow the gapconcept to get into a 70:30 situation in the sekond hour, and with a healthy stack your almost ITM after that (if the donk has you covered that is).

Im have been ridiculously lucky in rebuys lately which might have made me overestimate the beatability of them, but these are my perception right know... since im human and results oriented. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

i shove every hand in the 11r until i have 9kish. its fun. i dont care if i blow 200 bucks on it. sometimes i have 30k after the first break. its not a significant portion of my roll, and is really fun and relaxing. also, i give a ton of chips to a bunch of terrible players i can get them back from relatively easily. sure, its -cev. i dont even think that is disputable. however the point isnt to save 17 extra dollars on average per 11r tournament. it is to build a gigantic stack and drag the first place money. i like being called an idiot apparently. holla

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

I do & my screen name there is Cap'nJackpot.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

I have done quite a bit of thinking about this and this is my strategy:

1) If my table has a few maniacs at it already, I will limp-reraise all-in with very good hands (e.g. JJ-AA, AK,AQ). But otherwise I stay out of their way. Usually they are happy to call me (unless they are already all-in themselves, of course). If I just bet all-in, this seems to fool nobody, but the limp-reraise works great.

2) If my table is tight with no maniacs, I will play the maniac going all-in with junk once and showing my hand when everybody folds. If that still fails to loosen the table, I will do the same thing again about an orbit later (always in late position or blinds, after limpers). This sets them up for when I do it later with a real hand.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

[ QUOTE ]
A weak player who gets lucky in the first hour and accumulates 40K in chips is no more likely to make the money than a solid player who slowly increases his stack round by round.

[/ QUOTE ]

But a player like me, whose best strengths are preflop play -- steals and resteals and such-- and who can flounder in the second hour with the super-deep stacks against players who have really wide hand ranges, having that 40k allows me to survive that much longer until the stakes are such that I can play my game again. I either have to get lucky in the first hour or in the second and third hours, so why not give getting lucky a shot while I can still rebuy if I lose?

Like I said, the maniac strategy allows me to have a shot at winning because it compensates for my other weaknesses. When I get better at deep stack play, extracting value out of marginal hands, and assigning ranges to opponents and playing appropriately, it won't be as necessary.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
A weak player who gets lucky in the first hour and accumulates 40K in chips is no more likely to make the money than a solid player who slowly increases his stack round by round.

[/ QUOTE ]

But a player like me, whose best strengths are preflop play -- steals and resteals and such-- and who can flounder in the second hour with the super-deep stacks against players who have really wide hand ranges, having that 40k allows me to survive that much longer until the stakes are such that I can play my game again. I either have to get lucky in the first hour or in the second and third hours, so why not give getting lucky a shot while I can still rebuy if I lose?

Like I said, the maniac strategy allows me to have a shot at winning because it compensates for my other weaknesses. When I get better at deep stack play, extracting value out of marginal hands, and assigning ranges to opponents and playing appropriately, it won't be as necessary.

[/ QUOTE ]

If your strength is preflop play, why play a deep stack tournament like an online rebuy? There are plenty of fast structure tournaments available.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

1)Practice at deep stack events / flop play and beyond
2)These events have been profitable for me

I have trouble with the marginal spots when I'm really deep and against decent players. My solution has been to quit LAGging it up in the second hour and just wait for the players who will overbet all-in to "protect" bad hands to come to me.

I'm much better posflop after I've been playing with my opponents for a while and get an idea of their hand ranges. In the second hour most people are still so loose that this isn't the case.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

[ QUOTE ]
1)Practice at deep stack events / flop play and beyond
2)These events have been profitable for me

I have trouble with the marginal spots when I'm really deep and against decent players. My solution has been to quit LAGging it up in the second hour and just wait for the players who will overbet all-in to "protect" bad hands to come to me.

I'm much better posflop after I've been playing with my opponents for a while and get an idea of their hand ranges. In the second hour most people are still so loose that this isn't the case.

[/ QUOTE ]

My impressions of the 2nd hour of online rebuys is that the play is extremely wild preflop and postflop. I usually play very tight and try to trap people, which is similar to how I play in the rebuy period.

The postflop play is tricky because most of the players will go allin is stages after the flop, whether or not they have anything. I have played from $3 to $200 onlne rebuys and this is more true at lower buyins, but true at all levels to some extent.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

i love the strategy. I played it last night for the first time and had a blast. WAYYYYYY more fun then squeezing, waiting for a big hand.

Can't wait to play again tonight!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

[ QUOTE ]
1) If my table has a few maniacs at it already, I will limp-reraise all-in with very good hands (e.g. JJ-AA, AK,AQ). But otherwise I stay out of their way. Usually they are happy to call me (unless they are already all-in themselves, of course). If I just bet all-in, this seems to fool nobody, but the limp-reraise works great.


[/ QUOTE ]

I've tried out something similar. Key idea is to recognize the maniacs, which can't be very hard. Then I just try to get HU all-in with them with my good hands. This is pretty easy, if no one else in the table is willing to go preflop AI.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

I loooooooooooove the stars $3 rebuy - I go nuts for the 1st hour. all-in EVERY hand for 1st orbit if no callers I always show - unless I have a genuine monster - then wait till you get hands with potential mid os connectors/SC/suited 1 gappers before going all-in. Calling any all-in if there are 2 or more all-ins in front of you after I hit 12k or so or I have spanked 20 buyins - switch to supertight mode and pick off loads more chips when I hit a great hand - I find the last 10 mins is great for this as often people rush to double through and if you have a big stack you can call off t3k against people racing you frequently with junk - recently I find it rare if I get to 1st break with less than t30k. Once I had t73k at first break [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

its so much fun - where else in poker can you quadruple through with 95o ? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

You only need to get lucky once before you gear down a little.

2nd hour assuming my stack is $30k plus I limp every unraised flop and usually stack a few people playing junk hands that hit hard - I will call a up to 4BB raise from anyone with a small/medium stack playing any 2 - and hope the flop comes rags and I make a goofy straight or 2pair and stack their TPNK or overpairs. Again lots of fun - tho I get a lot of abuse from table coaches. I won't do this to good players or bigger stacks than mine as I frequently come unstuck and get knocked out.

6/10 times this takes me to 3rd break with ~70k after this I calm down and try playing poker.

This is where my game hits a downturn as most of the players still in can play better poker than I can with deep stacks [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] and quite often I am that guy overplaying and pushing his bad hands straight into some grateful patient players nuts...

I finish ITM about half the time - best finish to date was ~100th - am going to win this one day though...

I don't know if this is great strategy or not - but it works for me - all I need to do is nail down my game at later levels - when to push - when not to push and I ought to start placing a whole lot better...

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

Another possible thing to consider for the better players is time spent doing other stuff. I'm just switching over from cash to tournaments now, so I don't go beyond $50 buy-ins, usually sticking to $20 and $11 RAs (no big wins yet, only first couple of weeks), but I can see how someone like zeejustin wouldn't want to bother playing a 3k stack in a $10 buy-in beyond the first hour when the average is 6.5k, when he can just hop into the next $100 buy-in. Besides, I don't know how serious the top players take these tournaments, are they just playing for the win or do they really care about squeezing out a few dollars of EV in these small events?

It's kind of similar to me playing on the bubble and early in the money, I can freely steal because the $10-$40 win is meaningless to me, so I personally don't care about avoiding a gamble to gain a couple of extra bucks, whereas a lot of players seem to be crazy about "finishing up", even if "up" is $.14.

Same with Daniel Negreanu. Beyond merely getting the first prize money, there are a ton more incentives that come with being 1st: the bracelet, sponsorship deals, leaderboard rankings, resume, that it makes sense for the top players to play strictly for 1st place. When Sklansky advocated that using such a strategy passes up EV, he did not account for all the addons today's big tournaments receive.

Re: My thoughts with statistics/results
 

Well I'm not a rebuy maniac. Tho I profess they are very profitable....for me! I decided to take a reading off my poker tracker results on stars. I have only been on stars since 11/15 and I just dont have the time to play that many so take it with a grain of salt.

Over this period of 40 $5.00, $10.00, & $30.00 rebuy tournys, these are some of the stats I looked at:

ITM finishes: 35%
avg # of rebuys for myself: 2.1 (including add-ons)
ROI: 989%
VPIP during rebuy period: 20.19%

Overall vpip 17.99%

Now some points or thoughts in regard to above stats.

Zero tourny wins. Three seconds, & 1 third place finish but not in the 45k event. These 4 top 3 finishes had 245($10r), 126($30r), 1188(5r), 711($10r), participants.

Four of these last 40 tourneys involved me getting busted out in 10th, 11th, and 20th places when there was absolutely no big need to get all my chips all-in. However, I had decided to not worry about "bubbling" the next lvl in $$ for a shot at a large top 3 stack. I think this is -EV thinking and have decided to stop doing this.

Mason gave me Sklanskys tournament book years ago just before it was available to be purchased. With that in mind it was before the "boom". The biggest thing that I remind myself of is something David wrote to the effect of: Better tournament players will wait till the have a large edge before getting the chips in while poorer players MUST take any small edge they may have to accumulate chips. I truly believe this applied back then and even more so today. But from a purely long-term ROI view.

One example is just from memory so it isnt an absolute, but at least 2 of my final tables over the last 2 months I saw 9% total flops. I prefer to be around 11-12%. But obviously I took a fair amount of pots that were just blinds and ante's and the flops were in more key situations, with an edge, generally a decent edge, not a 2-4% edge.

I have actually even quit a couple of these rebuy tourneys during the rebuy period. These were odd times when I had gone up against HUGE HUGE dogs numerous times and got out drawn sickly 3 or more times during the rebuy period and decided todays "luck factor" was not with me. These were spots like getting it all-in with AKs vs KQo, AA vs KK or AK, AKs vs KJo, AA vs K10o with K high flop 3 ways(both of them had a K)etc. Tho an oddity on the small scale, I will sometimes figure that today isnt my day when I lose 4 or more of these during the rebuy period.

However, when I see a true maniac at the starting table, (I have seen them make 50+ rebuys) I will stack off with as little as A10o against them. Rarely do I get another player in these spots as it seems like the table sees "tight boy" getting involved.

I am actually begining to wonder if I have been on a small rush or have just been playing well or a combination of both to a lessor degree. I havent actually had a 1st place finish untill 2 weeks ago at a small tournament at Binions in 17+ months. But alot of that time was at Party. I believe that after the rebuy period the players at stars are alot better than at party which means fewer bullets to have to dodge. This lends towards better overall finishes for me.

I was recently talking to Scott Fischman about this topic of quality of players between the two sites. He believed without a doubt that the players on stars were overall better tournament players and that made it harder for him to win more $$. Part of this also had to do with the structure. The lack of antes at PP and the blinds being less during the latter hours.

What that tells me is that accumulating large stacks is paramount for players like him who like to see alot of flops and push smaller edges harder. But on stars, because of the blinds and the better players combined, "lotsa floppers" get punished do to the somewhat higher aggression and the lack of post flop action therfore fewer hands getting paid off when they hit.

Does any of this make sense? I have no idea. But as I write this stuff these were the thoughts that come to mind.

Go ahead folks!! Keep making them 10-20 rebuys for me!!

Regards

Re: update...todays 45 example
 

Heres a perfect example of how to play the maniac rebuys!!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed) converter

MP1 (t1280)
MP2 (t2250)
MP3 (t3130)
CO (t1320)
Button (t4210)
Hero (t2930)
BB (t2890)
UTG (t4670)
UTG+1 (t10320)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
UTG calls t20, <font color="#CC3333">UTG+1 raises to t1400</font>, <font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, CO calls t1320 (All-In), Button calls t1400, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t2930</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, UTG folds, UTG+1 calls t1530, <font color="#CC3333">Button raises to t4210</font>, UTG+1 calls t1280.

Flop: (t12710) 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(4 players, 1 all-in)</font>

Turn: (t12710) 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(4 players, 1 all-in)</font>

River: (t12710) 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(4 players, 1 all-in)</font>

Final Pot: t12710

Results in white below: <font color="#FFFFFF">
Hero has Ks Kd (two pair, kings and fives).
UTG+1 has 9d Ad (one pair, fives).
CO has Qd Ac (one pair, fives).
Button has Qs Jc (one pair, fives).
Outcome: Hero wins t12710. </font>

Re: update...todays 45 example
 

Forget whats the BEST way - pushing those suited cards and sucking out is SO fun i couldn't play tight even if i wanted... its just boring to fold lots, and rebuy period is a time where you can go nuts and it really doesn't matter.

Re: update...todays 45 example
 

Well for me it's about making money. These rebuys events have soooo big an overlay from donkeys that they are highly profitable in my mind. I'm not in it for fun. I look at these small buy-in rebuys as a great "game selection" choice. Lowest risk with a very nice return IMO.

Re: update...todays 45 example
 

I will post my stats from January on rebuys here in a little bit, the maniac strategy has a few HUGE advantages once you hit 2nd hour...
A) You table image becomes very weak
B) You stack your table with chips (assuming you dont get moved)
C) You could get a hold of a LARGE stack for 2nd hour (especially if you are very LAGGY early pushes with real hands will get called later on in the 1st hour in HUGE pots

Re: update...todays 45 example
 

Meh, it depends. You kinda lost me on your post when you got to leaving during rebuy periods because you lost a few hands....

However, on some site like Absolute poker, people gamble SO much less, and the rebuy/addon per person is much less than other sites. So it makes it less profitable to play the wild maniac gambler, as you can often be stuck so much you need top 6 to make money etc.

In tournaments like the stars 45k, the 5/3r i think it is profitable to play a fairly loose and wild rebuy period to try to accumulate chips. Especially in the 3/5 where the play is so bad, you want to have a big stack for when you get into a big pot with the other big stacks - generally players play the deepstack poker so badly in the first 2 hours that i want enough chips to win the big pots when they get allin for 100+bb stacks with JJ or AQ against my AA, or when i have a set vs their overpair.

I used to play then tight when i had a lower BR, now i can afford to rebuy, in my opinion getting the biggest stack however possible is what you should do (some tables the wild push any2 doesn't work well, some it does)

Re: update...todays 45 example
 

[ QUOTE ]
I will post my stats from January on rebuys here in a little bit, the maniac strategy has a few HUGE advantages once you hit 2nd hour...
A) You table image becomes very weak
B) You stack your table with chips (assuming you dont get moved)
C) You could get a hold of a LARGE stack for 2nd hour (especially if you are very LAGGY early pushes with real hands will get called later on in the 1st hour in HUGE pots

[/ QUOTE ]

And what I like is seeing a table with 50-80 rebuys worth of chips after the break and taking a portion of those chips. I dont want to dump 20 rebuys and get moved to a tight ass bunch...but I do so love being at a table where there are lots of chips to be had.

Trust me I know exactly what you mean Justin. I just prefer to take advantage of these types. Tho they got my ass tonight. We had a guy with 60/35 numbers and he kept hitting his miracle outs. Truly sick. Even with only 1 min left b4 the break he called 12k of his 14k stack preflop vs a raise, re-raise two all-ins with 87s. Yea he got there, just Quad 7's, but hey...those things happen too.

Tonight the sad part for me was when I got involved 3 times with 50%ers they had QQ or better!! NOW they gotta have a real hand? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

I do employ the maniac strategy, not being that of a player like ZeeJustin but I do find that giving the table a lot of chips helps. I can walk into a table and shove the first 10 hands and not get any calls, but the tighter players begin to loosen up and call me with KQo and such. It helps too because if you can get them to a stack of 6k-9k in the first 20 minutes, pick up aces and bust their stack, they too start employing the maniac strategy and end up giving you, and the table more chips to play with. It also helps build a better table image as they see you as one who doesn't care about the results and one who is willing to gamble, so if your table stays after the break, you do indeed get a lot of weird calls claiming they put you on draws and such..

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

SO I just tried this in the 3r. $75 later, my computer freezes, I miss the addon, start the second hour with 3000. Push KT after some limpers, QT calls, flop Q.

First hour I lost every time I was a favorite and every time but one that I wasn't.

I am not, it seems, gobboboy.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

No you are not.
There is only one Gobboboy...all the rest of us simply walk in his shadow.

except FunkiMunki

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

using this strategy do you only rebuy when you loose all of your chips, or is it every time you go allin?

I seem to recall hearing some sites allowed you to rebuy when you are all in allowing you to build up your stack. Is this true?

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

you rebuy whenever you are able to...below 1500 or after you are busted

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

Does it have to be at the end of a hand? Or can you do it when ever you are below the starting amount even if it is in the middle of a hand?

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

Supposedly you could (or still can) do it anytime your chips are in the middle (even if no one calls) but I couldn't get that to work, so these were all, push, lose, double rebuy, post, lose, double rebuy...

(you can go from 0 to 1500 to 3000, but couldn't rebuy if you had 1501)

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

[ QUOTE ]
No you are not.
There is only one Gobboboy...all the rest of us simply walk in his shadow.

except WPThero

[/ QUOTE ]
FYP

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

You might be playing too much like a maniac. (I'm assuming you are experimenting.)

If you are pushing a lot and getting called a lot, you could probably push less often with more premium hands. If the table is already loose and there are already maniacs there, no need to spend $70 on a $3+R.

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
No you are not.
There is only one Gobboboy...all the rest of us simply walk in his shadow.

except WPThero

[/ QUOTE ]
FYP

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, y'all do all right at these, I guess...

Re: Thoughts Regarding the Maniac Rebuy Strategy
 

Since being sold by Gobboboy on the maniac rebuy strategy my results in the rebuy tournaments have plumetted. Everyone who uses this strategy should stop immediately as it clearly doesn't work. I have proven this through an extensive testing period by playing in these for the last week and half almost every day. I blew through my whole $89 bankroll in just two tournaments and Gobboboy had to offer to stake me in return for a 250% share of myself, which I gave him freely since he says I can become a winning player but he says I have to learn to lose first. He's so great. I'm great at losing tournaments. I guess maybe I should make a second account and play that too so I have a better shot at winning.

I hope Gobbo has some more money for me.....