Freeroll Strategy Analysis

I've literally been "attacked" by players posting on how to play Freerolls and how to "get the best outta a freeroll" and avoid taking risks etc. So here we go.


While playing Freerolls :



1. You look up whether the freeroll your playing is worth it.Time is an important factor so you do NOT want to waste too much time playing freerolls which are'nt worth it!



2. So how do you know whether "THAT" particular freeroll is worthwhile? You first check out the cardroom.See their CashOut options. If you choose to play Risk-Free (i.e not wanting to deposit but just earning via freerolls and then requesting a payout) this is the first step you ought to take.YEAH , ITS RISK-FREE SO EARNING THIS WAY IS GONNA BE TOUGH ! Ok , you can cash-out (To Moneybookers Neteller etc. ) without making a deposit? Great. You target these freerolls of this cardroom.



3. Now , you've joint a (lets say) 500$ FreeRoll at (lets say) Bodog. You sit at the table. You observe.




4. Combating Tight Players : Ok, these guys are SHIT easy. They're all too tight.There are max 1-2 callers for every round.Raises are nowehere to be seen. So here: Position plays an important factor. You can bluff your ass-off and win all the little pots. If they ever bet you know they've got a strong hand , as the definition of a "tight" player goes.You shouldn't raise too often , cause that ought to intimidate them even more cause as you can see a simple call frightens 'em. A strategy you can try is one where your in late position or on the button and you've got a trash pair.Want to make some money on it? Table is Tight? Alright you make a medium sized raise.About 2.5XBB and you get say 1-2 callers.They check to you.Its your turn to act. You bet say 5XBB, and there you've got 'em though you had the shit.However, a check-raise should immidiately make you realize that atleast one of 'em has got something.Thats the time they completely reveal they're slow-playing or other styles too.(You don't lose TOO much since you've bet just about 5XBB which is rationally moderate.) Also, Make sure never to show a bluffed hand. There are advantages to this which i "might" come to later ; but against tight-players it wouldn't be such a good idea.Your wondering why.You'll get some more action on the table but its just gonna add to the chances of you NOT winning.They're gonna be agitated and committed to playing more hands cause no1 likes to get fooled! This really happens. So, stick to your strategy with tight-players and do not reveal it.A fool is one who reveals his/her strategy.Refrain from doing so.

One thing that beats me is why they play so "tightly" even though its a freeroll. So just to clear the air and break the ice i've mentioned the tight players which you will, but rarely encounter while playing freerolls in the opening stages of a .. umm.. freeroll .

That 500$ Freeroll at Bodog was my first encounter of a Tight-Table during the starting blinds. Think they were 10/20.My chip-stack? I think , hey really , i think i won 80% of the hands till i was moved to another table!! .I was about 6k & odd i guess within 30 mins of play. Hey you peeps :P they were "tight" players !!



5.Combating the so-called "Donks": Hmmm... mm mm mm La-La-La-La LA LA LA.. AAA.. AHHHHH!!!! "You have finished in 3000th Place.Thank you for Playing" Ok. kk. K. K MAN!
First and foremost: Are you , a , DONK?
Sry, i got to ask that question.
What? You do not know what that means do you??
A Donk is : A person who's confident , brave , and most of all ENERGIZED. He's got the guts , he goes all in with anything. He goes all-in with a J4 Unsuited. No , m serious. Yeah thats him.
Ok , so atleast since 80% of you are going to shout me a NO to the above question i shall proceed to tell you how to combat these donks and chop 'em off your table

Its easy. You dont call em!! What? You have AA? Hmm.. thats a good-hand , yeah above average , but its a no-no if the "donks" have asked you to join in the fun.Its hardly any use when it comes to "donks".Chances are your gonna lose that hand as well as the tourney since there are gonna be atleast 3 "donks" which includes you. So you just got to be patient. Dont miss out-on good chances though. Like if there is'nt any action pre-flop and you've flopped an open-end STFD you should and Have 2 move All-In and/or chase it. Thats how it works. You play the odds. You win.Especially in a freeroll where you have nothing or not much to lose. With that odd chase which works i guess 58% of the time you should be sure of kicking atleast 2 Donks out and + getting say around 4k of chips? You like that don't you ? . So do some research am not gonna help ya with everythin , look up draws like the one i mentioned and others which are potentially strong one's and which can guarantee you a huge pot especially against Donks who just loveee moving all-in with (most-of-d-time) nothin.



6. Surviving a MTT and Tips in General : Tickitey-Tock Tickety-Tock. The clock ticks by. the 1st break is around 10 minutes away.Let me look at your chip-stack. Hey, not bad sucka! you got 10k+ in there? All-right.

I'm not saying that you ought to have 10k+ as a rule ; but you have to be atleast moderately ranked since you do know a few strategies don't you? If they haven't worked as yet , hey , if they haven't worked you have'nt used 'em. Its as simple as that.50 mins of your life are precious! Oh so you've used them but your still 1.2k and the first break is on its way. That isn't possible.

If you've adopted some strategy your either well off, or your out of the tourney cause some prick is enjoyin , what according to the odds , were yours.

Ok , now since that's 'covered up ' lets look at how we're gonna survive this tourney.

Alright. Breaks shall end in 15-14...2..1.. Play Resumes.

Your around 15k and the blinds are um 200/400 lets say.

Be patient and observe. How is your new-table , or if your stuck to the old-one , whether these guys have changed their playing styles? Or is it the same ole shit. Call and raise with top pairs blah blah blah. You should have known by now who are the bluffers , who are loose , who are tight and aggressive(Yeah , they are'nt too bad , and if you notice they're as well off as you) who are absolutely "tight" or who are just normal occassional players who have some/negligible potential in earnin' the bulk of your tourney.

You play with them. Its not as tough as it sounds. Spot the bluffers . Notice the blinds are increasing. Every pot you pick-up would be a min. of 500chips. So you give the bluffers some action. Bluff d Bluffers. There's no better way to put it.Pick-up all the pots you can and dont be careless. You should know when and when not to bluff/call/raise and whom your bluffing or calling or raising. Avoid the tight players. They're gonna be all-out soon ; the blinds are gonna kill them.

Change your style after a period of time.Keep on changing them.If you've been playing exceptionally well and collected a stack of lets say 40k and just about 60-70 players are left you ought to cool down. Dont get hasty or tricked into calling or raising or worst comes to worst bluffing. However,this in no way implies that you must turn "Tight".

You collect the pots , increase your stack and know when you ought to fold.



7. Conclusion : SO, i hope you'll have read through this article properly. These strategies are worthwhile and it really invites comptetiveness.

Something you'll can do is post in this very thread your experiences on adopting strategies as the one's discussed or any hands or even bad-beats that we can analyze to the fullest. It pays off.!

Guys, if you'll disagree with me on anything please feel free to post it in here really.I'm 'Everready' to look into any mistakes of mine and rectify the same! Also , to learn from you'll any new strategies which are worth it (trust me , i've read a shit-load of some egregious strats which people use!)


Well : 'Thats All Folks!' GL At the tables!!

Cheers !




Hey Guys add me some Rep. If you'll enjoyed reading my article . Thanks!

- mrknwitall
__________________________________________________ ____________

[bizwzubi]

OK, you were begging for some feedback and wondering why there's no interest down at this end of the forum, so here you go.

As some people pointed out, there isn't that much interest in freeroll strategy here. If there is, it is from someone relatively new to the game or to the forum, so they want good, concise information.

Your's isn't bad, but it could be better, start with the title, more interest could be generated if you'd have called it "Starting your bankroll", that's a main reason for freerolling.

I'd also make the article easier to read. You have some fairly large paragraphs, with some complicated sentence structure. Not good when something easier and more pleasant to read is just a click away.

The tips and strategy you gave are pretty basic, that's not bad, but people that need the basic help usually won't get into a major discussion on something they don't know much about. They tend to read, absorb, and then experiment.

You would find allot more discussion if you we're asking about/offering more advanced ideas, though we have covered them in here pretty well and have allot of info for those who want to research.

Hope that helps you out, maybe you will take my award someday.

[Explosive Sheep]

It's great to see some Freeroll Poker tips on our Forum, keep up the good work mrknwitall!

Explosive Sheep
WassOnline

Originally Posted by Explosive Sheep

It's great to see some Freeroll Poker tips on our Forum, keep up the good work mrknwitall!

Explosive Sheep
WassOnline

Thanks Explosive sheep ..

*kisses
hehe

[welshgit]

Originally Posted by mrknwitall

Thanks Explosive sheep ..

*kisses
hehe

dont send him kisses you havnt seen him WE HAVE

oooops .

I thot a "lady" posted that lmao !
:P

Guys can i be made active. ? Forget whats written in the forums ( i satisfy all the req.'s though!). The true meaning of beign active , is one whose active! and i really AM active on this forum!


Sorry but i had to post that , because as you can see i've even started a thread , nobody seems to be alive!

[Clownboy R]

The Initial post does state a lot of the common goings on within a lot of Freerolls. The main issue is that there can really be no predictabilty in a "Freeroll" as so many people Play in them and have no clue how to much less play the Game of Poker.
It is too difficult to have certain ways of dealing with Donk PLayers or Fish. They play so unorthadox its like predicting the Stock market.
I personally try to get a feel of how they play and Adapt my play to Confront the overly aggressive nature of the 4-5 soooted all in pusher.
These kamakazi players are really a threat to a solid player because they sometimes get lucky many times.
My best Advice I can Give is
to Play a Freeroll like you would any Buy-in or Any tourney for that matter even a home game.
If you play correct you will have some success forgeting that its a free ball game.
Taking your chips and your game lightly only weakens your skills at Poker.
I feel every tournament is a learning and unique way to pass the time of day. Thats how poker should be taken Seriously.
Also many abusive unclassy insults you hear only indicate the Weak Ego's of many players who are sore losers.
So the Final bit of Advice I can give is to have Class and Respect no matter what where when or how you play poker.
Persona is the most important part of Competition so Reflect the Best keeping in mind that sometimes We get Unlucky. So the most we can do is try to get the money in ahead and hope it holds up.
Those are the things I think can be learned from Freeroll Experiences.
Patience,Tenasity, And most importantly Respect.
GL All

[elbandido32]

Freerols truly are a crapshoot because it is hard to read players. People will go all in with anything and use the excuse that it is just a freeroll.

[bls12]

Originally Posted by elbandido32

Freerols truly are a crapshoot because it is hard to read players. People will go all in with anything and use the excuse that it is just a freeroll.

i think you have to look at how much the freeroll is if its $10 -$50 i would agree but at the same time if you play your game and play it well there is no reason why you cant get to the cash its normally the first hour you get the all in so if you can get past the first hour you should be relatively ok unless you get donked but thats poker and this dont just happen in freerolls its the same in buyin's low buyins tend to make for a lot of allin's but i personally think the same princaple applies


i have cashed in on the $10 $50 $100 $200 $500 $1000 $2000 $10k freerolls so you can build a bankroll off freerolls depends on how much patience you have