What Is an Add On in Poker?
Add ons in poker are especially common in rebuy guarantee tournaments. The option to buy additional chips at a fee helps to increase the total prize-pool so that the tournament directors don’t suffer a shortfall.
The option to add-on usually occurs after the rebuy period has ended. Players receive a fixed add-on to their stack at a fee, after which no further rebuys and add-ons are typically allowed.
Example of Add-On used in a sentence -> We were running low on chips after the rebuy stage and decided to purchase the add-on poker option to increase our stack.
Strategic Use of Add-Ons in Poker
Most professional players choose to purchase an add-on when available, although this does not guarantee that adding on is always the correct choice. The decision to use a poker add-on should be based on ICM considerations, balancing the cost against its value to your stack. A big chip leader might hardly increase the ICM value of his stack by adding on for example. If the cost of the add-on is more than the ICM benefit it brings to a player’s stack, then adding on is mathematically incorrect. Despite this, there is a lot of debate on the topic, and many players blindly assume that adding-on is always correct regardless of the circumstances.
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