I should have been more specific actually and qualify my dislike of unlimited rebuys (or rebuys over half the tournament duration as was the case this time.) My dislike is bourne from having played with people with vastly different bankrolls.
Not one of my home games, but an extreme example was a club I used to frequent. It was advertised as a £5 rebuy tournament. Decent 20 minute blind levels with unlimited rebuys up to the first break (about an hour and twenty minutes if memory serves me correctly). Now some guys used to turn up with £300 to gamble on the tournament. They were used to playing at higher levels and could afford to gamble £300 and just fancied a punt. It ruined it for everyone else who did not have the same bankroll because:
a) They were gambling and would suck out occassionally. All-Ins blind every hand sometimes.
b) There were so many damn chips in play that if you hadn't accumulated some of theirs you'd not stand a chance in the latter stages.
Now in the long run, sure a good player will overcome this because they get their money in good, but it really is no fun watching/playing push/fold poker where you lose say £20 99 times and then win £2,500 on the 100th tournament. Sure you're a winning player overall but it is soul destroying to play, especially at a live venue you only frequent once a week. It'd be two years of poor poker before you see a +ve ROI !! These guys weren't tools. Indeed there were some very good card players, but their attitude to a low stakes game made them come across as tools.
I never had it this bad in my home games, but sometimes on a £50 buy in, one guy was coming to gamble £100 and another £500 and that frustrated some players who would see the guy with the bigger bankroll playing badly because he was prepared to lose more, create a loose image or whatever reason. If they wanted to play that sort of game we'd have had a cash game instead, where they could pick their spots without fear of being eaten up by the blinds. It was then that I decided that capping rebuys in my tournaments at the level that was affordable to most was a better way forward.
To those who say you should always want poor/noob players in their games I'd say they're always welcome in my cash games but not in my tournaments.
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