free roll tournament strategy

In my own opinion free roll tournaments vary considerably. take for instance Absolute Pokes free rolls. either the $50 variety or WSOP. Now take in mind that they run constantly every hour with a few exceptions. Then every two hours.
Around 1500 enter. And when the first break arrives, (after 1 hour of play) their is around 450 people left. (on average) That means over 1000 went bust in 1 hour. Yet it takes endless hours to get pass the rest of them.
In my opinion the reasons for this is simple. 1)There is another tournament coming up in an hour and 2)The buy-in is free. What I see is DEAD MONEY. In no limit, no limit only, get involved in any pot with 5 or more players with any two cards as long as you can get in cheap. If your holdings correlate (did I spell that right?) with the flop your stack will accumulate quick. This strategy only works for the first hour. After the break it is time to abandon it and use the rock solid approach. You will not win them all but you will be suprised at the amount of times you will be in position to do some damage. And they give you 1500 sometimes 2000 in chips to start.
I know it sounds crazy but don't knock it till you tried. It was taught to me and I knocked it for 2 months to long. Then I tried it and I am sold.


GL2ALL
spindoct

Seems very logical indeed. I'm not folowing the advice in full, but my playstyle in the first hour is certainly more agressive then later on. The good thing is that you can pick up all those semi-free pots, where people are just throwing their chips at anything that moves. Had my stack improved 8 times once, when most the table went all in (on my AA's).

After the first break, the real game starts though.

well... "Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem" :-)

Personally, I am the opposite. I like to simply survive the first hour, and then once the stronger, less wild players are left, I like to "steal" pots with aggressive play after I have built my appearance to be tight.

i have developed my own "tight" style for the first hour where i only will play pairs and suited connectors over the 45 line...it works hardcore style

if i make it to the second break of a tourney with an average stack im a usually guaranteed to make the final, i just cant handle the "loose as shit after a hotwing dinner" play by the retards. i love to not see any playable cards in the first hour and just let them fall

I like to play tight for the first hour, there have been to many times that i have tried that and i might get a solid hand after the flop but more times than not someone there will hit 2 crap card that just souldn't have been played in the first place

When playing freerolls with large amounts of entrants, I always am extremely aggressive first the first hour. I like to attack and take chances that I would'nt normally take in a cash tourney or ring game. This allows me to build an immense stack over a short period of time. Basically if it's worth calling in the SB then I will play it, if I can get in the pot for cheap. Once first break is over, I like to slow down and play decent hands. I also like to play really aggressive when near the bubble because many people, especially the small stack will try to play tight to make it past the bubble. All-in-all, this strategy has served really well for me in these gynormous (great word) freerolls.

Yes, you've got to be very agressive to want to have a good shot later on, because some people will get the good cards and build up massive pots. You want to get strong early on. Or, of course, you can try to wait out the all in players, and then try to fight for more chips later on. Either way works, it's up to you.

I agree with Josh here. Although it may depend where you're playing. I've been doing the freerolls at Ultimatebet a lot recently, and just finally placed in my first TEC freeroll two days ago.

The first hour it's virtually impossible to bluff anyone out of a pot, as most people will call down since it's free money, and they may figure they'd like to double/triple up early, or stop wasting their time in a freeroll.

Once the blinds go up, and most of these wild players leave, this is where it starts to get real, as others have previously said. I still try to be a little patient here, and get my money in pre-flop with QQ, KK, AA, or AK, because once the blinds go up and it's close to the cutting point, everyone tightens up that isn't in a dramatic chip lead.

freerolls are tough cause people play so loose, i find its best to try to survive the first hour, and then play cause then you are playing good players and not the jerk who is going all in on the first hand to try to double up or bust.

jdecost1

My strategy is to try to see a lot of flops with connectors, or the type of hands that can beat trips. Q2 I will still fold on. Hopefully you can make a straight or a flush once, and take a big haul.

since there are free tourneys all the time it would be simular stategy as in a rebuy tourney~ Play lots of draws and try to get a big chip stack built up~ if you dont then try another tourney~

Yep, the tourneys on Ultimatebet and Bet365 are wildcards to me. Ill look for the wankers and try to grab their stack with a vengeance during the first hour. That way i have a stack and can really be a nuisance when the real players are left in the second hour and forward. Nothing like having a table where you have the chip lead. Gotta love that bullying stuff =)

Ill meet you in todays TEC final, Ytseshred

can stress tight play enuf in the beginning....yes you may get your AA or KK cracked by a crap handed loose players up chances are u will take em and set yourself up for an extended amout of time. Aslo wait for them sitouts to go blind and drop out usually quite a few.

I tottaly agree spindoct, however seldom do I make it to the final table.

After tonights regular at Noble i am probably gonna be quite unbearable... I excuse my behaviour in advance...

sit and wait for good hands only early. knock a few people out early and your set!

I would agree with most of the people above, go aggressive on the early people who are clearly throwing their money away but get back on your normal game when the bad players are eliminated.

I play freerolls a lot, my strategy is to just play. I do not play freerolls much different than any other tournaments. i play good cards only, do not go in with scrap cards unless they are mildly good and only at a cheap limp in. I'm real conservative, have made it to final tables on several occasions ranging from 700-3400 players. I have yet to win my first freeroll though, looking forward to that 1st place finish.

I have been known also to gamble a bit during the first hour by seeking a quick double up. This i do only with AA, KK, or AK. sometimes the decision comes back to kick me in the but it is a freeroll and well, it is gambling afterall.

whats the password guys i got 6 posts now i dont see it yet?? help a guy out

Gmarquez19@netscape.net

Wait for the right hand and then finish a player lower on chips than you, so you dont risk all your chips...

Normally i like to play aggressive in the beginning of a freroll. Thats to make either a large stack or to get out quick. If i make the stack then i usually sit out for half an hour or so to get the rest of the maniacs out. And htne i start to play again. It is a rather profitable way to do it when u can make it.

Freerolls vary, but one thing that is usually constant is sitouts. If about half your table is sitouts there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to build your stack in teh first hour. The other day I was in a freeroll...10 people at the table, 8 sitouts. An easy first hour!

I have been reading all the good freeroll advice. I have been playing free rolls quite a bit. I like tourny style games. I will try to play using the advice I have read in these posts.
Thanks in advance. I will let you know how I am making out.
Trish

I have a question for you all
Why do so many ppl sit out in touneys? Meaning free roll? Is there any particular reason for this? I know ppl have to go to the bathroom and get a drink, etc, but I notice that quite a few sit out for long periods of time.
Trish

I think there are a couple of reasons why so many people sit out in free rolls. One, they didn't pay out any of their own money, so they don't care much about losing and often people don't even bother to show up. Other people build up their chips for a while then sit out just hoping to make it further in the tourney. I have seen this strategy almost work before. I was in a tourney the other day and we were down to two tables and only one person needed to be knocked out to get to the final table. One of the players had been sitting out for well over an hour. Finally he was blinded out. These players tend to forget that the blinds become very large by the end of a tourney.

In these Freerolls, alot depends on the table you were sat at. If its a very aggressive table, sit back and watch half your table go home early. But, if it's a passive table and only a few are calling each hand, get in and do some damage. In other words, if it's an over agressive table, read the goofs who are calling all in every hand. You can learn alot in these freerolls in the first 10 minutes of play.

thanx dude i kno its so hard even though its free money i still cant play but i am going to try what you said and see how it works i kinda did that one time to see what i would do at paradise and i got 92nd out of 4000 so i thought i did pretty well even thought you had to get 50th and lower to make it to the wsop finals but its all good.

Well tonight is my first free roll and I will let you know which way I went and what happened.

I usually play tight from the start, because I don't like loosing after an half hour for a stupid bet ... and this works fine for me

In the lat two cardschat tourneys that I played I came 2nd ant 6th ... so, in my mind, there's not doubt about it

need 15 or more "Quality" posts.

i am a cheap little poker player and look for freerolls constantly.
thanks to spindoct for telling me about absolutepoker and the free money they give away there

doesnt look like lopsdy came back to let us know how his/her freeroll went.
maybe hes driving around in his winnings haha

I try to avoid the first hand in Ultimatebet .......someone always goes all in ...and if you chase them they kill you with a bad beat ....also ....I have found that if you sit out for the first half hour ...more then half the field is gone ....and they are the rammer jammers

Well my first tourney was great. You guys are the champs. I followed a lot of your advise and made it to the final table. Second largest stack. First to go, but 8th place out of 71. I found the isehole who is "all in every hand". I found the more conservative I played the more I saved. I found the right times to call on their allins and won them EVERY TIME. I'm new to cardschat.com but I'm hooked. You all know what is up.
Maybe I'll beat you all at noble. Just kidding. Thanks guys you really helped my online play in the fast and furious freeroll lifestyle.

My Freeroll statagy is stay tight in the begging when the players go crazy and then make moves when half of the feild is gone

I also like to keep in mind that the blinds are never big in freerolls

Wait the first hour out on freerolls. The idiot feeding frenzy is usually over by then and then you play your game.