In For The Minimum

1. In a rebuy tournament, when a player has not made any additional rebuys, he will say he is "in for the minimum."

Not the Actual Minimum

A typical rebuy tournament setup allows unlimited rebuys, inluding right away (doubling the size of your starting stack), and one add-on at the end of the rebuy period.

When a professional poker player declares that he is "in for the minimum," he means is that he purchased only the initial rebuy and add-on, but did not require any additional buy-ins. This, of course, is not the same as being in the tournament for one bullet.

Rebuy Strategy

While it's definitely a good thing to be 'in for the minimum', you generally shouldn't play rebuy tournaments if this is your goal. For example, if you have $31 in your account, it's probably not a good idea to play a $10 rebuy event. $31 is exactly the minimum (assuming you play the tournament correctly), which means that if you lose one all-in, you will be eliminated. Playing in rebuy tournaments with the intention of turning down the rebuy option if you go busto is just silly, and definitely negative EV.

Rebuy Strategy

While it's definitely a good thing to be 'in for the minimum', you generally shouldn't play rebuy tournaments if this is your goal. For example, if you have $31 in your account, it's probably not a good idea to play a $10 rebuy event. $31 is exactly the minimum (assuming you play the tournament correctly), which means that if you lose one all-in, you will be eliminated. Playing in rebuy tournaments with the intention of turning down the rebuy option if you go busto is just silly, and definitely negative EV.