04-28-05, LearnTexasHoldem:

Rebuy Tourney With JJ

Question: I just read your post on JJ vs AQ which I believe answered my question but was wondering if you could comment on how you would play them with multiple callers. I played a NL tournament last night with 12 people at the table. Re-buys are allowed for double the original buy-in if someone goes out on the very first hand. It's the first hand, we all have 1000 chips, blinds are 10/20 and I am the small blind.

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There were 6 callers and when it was my turn I raised 100 with pocket Js. Player 1 calls, player 2 folds, player 3 raises all-in, player 4 calls, player 5 calls, player 6 folds, I fold and player 1 calls. I knew player 1 would call making 4 callers against me, two of which are typically pretty tight. With 12 sets of cards out there I didn't think my Jacks would hold up. Do you think folding in this situation is the right move?

By the way, turns out they were all looking for flushes and a pair of 6s took the pot.

Thanks,

Joe

Answer:

I would call without a doubt there. The key to making this call correct is that you mentioned it is a rebuy tournament. In a regular tournament you would definitely fold since the likelihood of your JJ holding up till the river is low, but in a rebuy where you can just get another stack of chips, making this call is automatic. Chances are that yes you will lose, but think if you do win? You'll have 5x the initial buy-in already, which will put you in a great spot for the rest of the game. So worst case scenario is that you lose 1 buy-in and rebuy; best case scenario is you have a strangle hold on the rest of the game. To put this strategy in context, I would probably make the same call there all-in even if I had a hand like 22, 44, KQs, A4s, etc. Any reasonable hand is worth a shot here.

With rebuy tournaments, the strategy you take is that you are going to be very aggressive (even reckless) early on in hopes to get a good start. Since the cost of a rebuy is relatively low, you just burn through a few of them until you get a pot. You bluff more, make bigger bets, go all-in with draws, etc. As soon as the rebuy or add-on period comes to a close, or if you have a good amount of chips, you pull back and play a solid game.

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