How many levels into a tournament will you still rebuy? Is max late reg + EV?

The ICM value of a starting stack goes up as players are eliminated, since the busted players' entry fees are in the prize pool but they no longer have a chance to win any of it.

However by late regging you miss out on the value playing the early levels deep stacked with all the dead money players.

Which option is higher EV for a winning player is open to debate. Occasionally you can late reg so late that you're almost in the money already, which is clearly +EV, as you can sneak into the money then try to run up a stack to make a deep run. However you could potentially gain more EV playing the early levels.

For a break even or worse player max late regging is likely the highest EV option, as the ICM value of their stack will be highest when they enter, and they presumably don't have any edge playing the early levels.

When pros late reg it's usually more about maximizing their hourly. If the EV is fairly close either way, by shortening the tournament the $/hour goes up.

Let's say on average the pro makes $420 registering on time, and by max late regging they average $400. In this example they might make more money on average registering on time (let's say tournament takes 7 hours for $60/hour average). However their hourly might be higher registering late (let's say tournament goes 4 hours after registration closes making their average take $100/hour).

I used to never late register and never rebuy. I make the no re-buy rule so that if I ever go on tilt I don't regret buying into a tournament a bunch of times. I don't really do tournaments anymore. Cash games are better imo.

So, what is the EV when you are entering late into a 100 person team that has been in existence for 10 years? They have made millions upon millions of dollars. They have corrupted floor people and dealers. What is the EV for this situation which is only going to get copied and corrupt a great game.