Freezeout
A tournament with no rebuys and no re-entry. One buy-in, one life — lose your chips and you are out for good.
A freezeout is the oldest tournament format and the simplest one to describe: everybody buys in once, nobody can buy in again, and when your chips are gone so are you. The alternatives — rebuy, re-entry, unlimited re-entry — all soften that ending, and softening it changes how the early levels should be played.
The format matters because of what it does to gambling. In a re-entry event, busting on level two with a marginal flip costs the price of another bullet, and plenty of good players will take that flip happily. In a freezeout it costs the tournament, so the same flip is worth avoiding: the equity you give up by passing is small, and the equity you keep by staying in a field you can outplay is not.
It also flattens the field. Deep-pocketed players cannot fire six bullets at a soft event, so the edge available to a bankroll shrinks and the edge available to a good player grows. That is why the format is still the standard for major live championships and why online schedules bill it explicitly.
The mistake is playing a freezeout exactly like a re-entry. Early-stage all-ins with small pairs are cheap in one format and expensive in the other, and the correct adjustment is not to play scared but to stop taking coin-flips for your tournament life before there is anything worth winning.
FAQ
What is a freezeout tournament?
A tournament where each player buys in once and cannot buy in again. When your stack is gone, you are out. It is the original tournament format, and it stands in contrast to rebuy and re-entry events where busting early costs only another buy-in.
What is the difference between a freezeout and a re-entry?
Re-entry lets a busted player buy a fresh stack, usually within the first few levels; a freezeout does not. That single rule changes early strategy — a marginal flip that is cheap in a re-entry costs your whole tournament in a freezeout.
How should you play the early levels of a freezeout?
Avoid flips for your stack while the blinds are still small. There is very little to win at that stage and everything to lose, and the whole value of the format is the hours of play ahead of you against a field you can outplay.