If you've ever played in a re-buy tournament, you know how loose the play is in those poker tournaments. Players go all in left and right from the beginning of the tournament all the way to the first break. What’s even more upsetting is that they go all in with mediocre hands knowing that they can always re-buy if they go bust.

My strategy for these re-buy tournaments is to play very tight up until the first break and then switch it up and play aggressive after the first break. By tight, I mean play only A-K, A-Q, A-J, A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, 10-10, and maybe 9-9. When you do get those hands, try to extract all the chips from your opponents either by going all in pre flop or after the flop. You are certainly going to have at least one caller and will have a great chance at winning the pot. By the first break, you should have at least an average stack if not better (that is if you don’t get a bad run of cards or get bad beats)

After the break, you can start playing more aggressively as those same loose players will tighten up knowing they cannot re-buy. By more aggressively, I mean bluffing, check raising, stealing blinds, etc. You should also start playing more aggressively as blinds have gone up and you can’t afford to be blinded off waiting for those hands listed above.

So, there's nothing infallible in poker, but you can try this strategy next time you play a re-buy tournament. It’s a smart and a good way to get far in this type of tournaments.