Advanced Strategy in a Rebuy Tournament

Last night, I watched a friend of mine, Mark, an outstanding local Austin player, make a great move at a freeroll tournament at Third Base on Sixth Street. The league allows for one "gracious loser" per table before the first break. It's basically a rebuy for the cost of a round of drinks for the drinkers at the table.

In the dealer position, he's dealt Q 4 suited. There was a moderate raise in early position, and nearly everyone called until the Small Blind made a huge raise. Four players called ahead of Mark, and he went all-in for about the same amount of chips given at the start of the tournament (about the same a rebuy would be, too)... everyone called. All the players were all-in except one, so everyone flipped over their cards to reveal that Mark had two live cards. He won a HUGE pot with a pair of Queens. If he'd have lost, he would have bought a round of drinks and received a new stack of chips... nothing lost as far as chips went. It was a well calculated risk with the potential of a very large reward. If you are nearing the time of a rebuy... think about doing what Mark did if the risk is worth the reward. Mark didn't just shove his chips in... he knew exactly what he was doing and moved into the chip lead in one hand.