I try and always reg on time but don't mind late reggin if I've gotta.  As with anything it really comes down to comfort level for instance this past Sunday I somehow totally forgot about the $11 250k on Stars until I saw a popup in the chat box and I went ahead and regged it with 3k in chips at 200/400 50.  I figured 2/3 of the field was gone and if I could get lucky a couple of times and get a decent stack the tourney was still more then soft enough that I could maybe make a run.

ttwist said:

the later you reg the more of a turbo like feeling it has, im not apposed to late reg its a nice dead money feeling.

yeah definitely puts you into push/fold pretty quickly when you reg at the very end.  Closer to the money – but definitely in a bad position as opposed to the other stacks around you.

GaryLQ said:

On Stars in micro-stakes rebuys you can register just before the hour mark, do an instant re-buy, take the add-on and you will have a stack that's only a fraction below average, around a third of the field will already have been eliminated and you haven't even played a hand. Is this a valid tactic, or should you get in there early and gamble to build a monster stack?

I think monster stack is the idea if you want to get a good price.

note: Most of the times I play a rebuy tourney I am just after the rebuy period with the stack of 1r+1 add on. lol… so sounds good to do what you said. You dont have to get tired playing 1 hour!

I've just tried this as an experiment on UB in a $3r+2a.

One minute before reg closed I bought in and took a re-buy, 5 minutes later I took the double add-on without playing a hand (only picked up junk anyway). Of 204 starters 168 remain, the average stack is 7354, my stack is 6850 (68BB), chip leader has 19559. 27 spots get paid, on first impressions my table looks weak, loads of pre-flop limpers.

Still not convinced doing this is better than getting in there from the start, but I don't think it can be much worse. Anyway, lets get to work!

(Edit; close, but no cigar, busted out in 8th, got crippled in a huge pot that would have given me the chip lead 7-handed, a horrendous calling station with av. ROI -80% luckboxed a gutshot on the river for their whole stack vs my flopped 2 pair!)

bennymacca said:

bl gary!

 

i agree that its basically never as good as actually being in the tourney from the start, but if you can start with at least 60% of the average stack and at least 30bb, i think that is a situation where you are still deep enough to push the edges and still be +EV in the tournament. 

A pro should be interested in $equity and win rate per hour not the number of bbs left. The rebuys with higher add ons and some satellites are the best tourneys to enter late. With the former the rebuy hour is saved, you get more chips for the same price and there is dead money from players who have already given up.