Rebuy"s certainly have their place in the poker world. The OP was specifically asking the question about the validity of a rebuy satellite into the APAT live National events.
That"s quite a complex question. It really depends on your thoughts on getting a seat for these events. As we all know, the demand outweighs the demand, and long may that continue, otherwise what"s the point in holding the events ?
The way the current satellites work :-
$20 FO - 1 seat for every 7.5 players
$10 FO - 1 seat for every 15 players
$5 rebuy - 1 seat for every $150 in the prizepool
Now, if no-one rebought or added on then thats 1 seat for every 30 players, which in my opinion is ridiculous odds.
The first rebuy satellite for the UK saw the following stats :-
125 Buy-Ins
296 Rebuys & Add-Ons
Total Prizepool = $2,105
14 Seats + $5 for 15th
That"s an average spend of $16.84 per player
And 1 seat for every 9 players
If my bankroll meant that I didn"t want to rebuy and add-on, then I would be quite happy for others to increase the pot and hope that I can play premium in the first hour and build a stack.
It would be interesting to know how the players in the satellites answer this question :-
Why do you play the satellites ?
[ ] Because my bankroll won"t stretch to a £75 buy-in event without satelliting in
[ ] I could buy-in direct, but I want to try and guarantee a seat before the clickfest
I don"t know where the majority lie, but at a guess, I would say it"s the second answer (I might be wrong)
It is a tricky one though to get the balance right for gaining a seat in the National events.