Every re-buy I have seen there has been one fact I have found. If you re-buy more then 4 or 5 times the payout curve will soon require you to make the final table before you brake even. Yes every re-buy adds to the pot, but most of it goes to the top 1% of the payouts; and only a small amount gets added to the last place. The more you spend, the deeper you have to rank in the money to just get your entry money back. If you have to re-buy 5 or 6 times you are setting the odds against you so deeply it is not worth it. I'll give 2 examples to show it. First the ten cent FTP game, and then a $1 re-buy tourney also on FTP.
Lets use the last FTP ten cent re-buy as an example. (#58485084) If you spend $2.10, so the dime plus 3 re-buys and an add-on, you would loose money if you "Make it in the money." You would have to place in or near the top 100 just to break even. And that is just 3+ the add-on. If you re-buy 5 times and then add-on you would have to make the about the top 50 out of 3600 just to break even. 7 re-buys and an add-on and you have to make about the top 35 out of 3600 just to break even. I admit, payoffs go up faster after that, but you are still looking at making the top 1% to break even at that point. I admit, this is from the dime re-buy game, but they all tend to come out about the same math in general.
Now a $1 re-buy on FTP number 58557230. It had 421 entrants, 320 re-buys and 134 add-ons. About average. Last place only payed out $2.75. So if you did one re-buy and one add-on, you would loose money if you made the money. If you did the buy-in, plus 2 re-buys and the add-on, now you have to make 27th out of 421 to get a $3.92 payout. You loose, although just a bit, but you still loose money with just $4 that you payed to play. If you buy-in, then do 5 re-buys and the add on you have to make 15th out of 431 just to make seven cents. The pay-out being $7.07 at 15th in this example. Looking at it from this perspective, in general more then 2 re-buys and an add-on you start setting the odds more against you then normal because just making the money dose not get you your money back. Try to never spend more then what last place will pay out in return. These are actual examples, not just off the top of my head.
Personally I hate re-buys over all, but I have fun with the dime re-buy on FTP. But there I almost never re-buy. My whole point of it is see how far I can go on a dime. Made the top 20 once for over $20 on just ten cents. If you make the money on just ten cents you have made $1.50 to $2. on a dime.
WillyWillmer00