Freeroll Strategies

I have been playing several freerolls and pt. tourneys lately. I haven't done as well as I would in a buy-in tourney or ring games. People have nothing vested in a freeroll and it just seems like really grappy playing to just some ungodly luck lol Maybe. But is there strategies that ya'll use with moderately consistant success.

lol...dont know if there is a strategy....some nights i cash in freerolls and manage not to get donked on and some nights in 3 or 4 hands someone hits me with a hand they have no true right playing....big reason why i will like it when i finally have money here in a week and can get back to cash tourneys

Yeah I have cash in one of my accounts. But had been on a terrible streak lately. Thought I would play freerolls and try to get a little money in other sites. But on the site I do have moneys on I have faired well in buy-in tourneys but have done well in ring games. But as we know ring and tourneys are totally different

Yeah, that's the right approach if that's your style. I like the position play alo in the low blinds just to take the chance when you hit the flop....

Small bets don't bother your stack too much and position is mostly 1 in 9 or 6 depending on the max players so the rest of the hands you can 'wait' for the big hands.

Lately I have been lousy at freerolls, in October I was hot winning $300 for the month, I play the opposite flow of the table, so if someone's going all in, I'll sit tight till they bust or I get a hand, I try to keep adding chips each level in a slow deliberate manner until the ante kicks in and they I slowly gear up after building a tight image and start my stealing.

free roles inspire an entirely different type of play. on one hand you have nothing to lose, but on the other hand, neither does your opponent. Don't make stupid calls or chase hands that won't happen for you.

NEVER chase a flush. trust me

If you're asking about a strategy for freerolls with hundreds or even thousands of players, my approach is simply to avoid them, with some exceptions for those that offer sizable prize pools.

One reason is EV. With large fields playing for small pools, my EV is higher playing buyins. Think of it this way. How much per hour do you make playing big freerolls? And if you have any kind of game, shouldn't you be able to make more in buyins?

I'll play this site's frerolls maybe once or twice a week since the level of play is far better than in the larger rolls, but those are probably the largest I'll play even semi-often.

i usually play tight and get my 1000 or so doubled up from a preflop all in with my jj qq kk aa. from then on i avoid bluffing and slowplaying. i definitely label players who will call a 3xbb raise and who call all ins. even if you have the best hand, you have to make sure you will survive if it gets popped. so having a healthy chip stack and holding on to it will increase your chances of advancing.

i am playing in one now as i post, and im doing well not even concentrating , just playing good starting hands in good positions, and laying down when raised. my tip is play solid poker untill you have alot of chips. dont call someone just because you think its a bluff, patience is the key. in the right hand you wont have to even think about your decisuion it will be so obviuos

Patience and good starting cards would be my take. It took me 4 hours last night to finsh a freeroll with about 1000 people in it. With that many people and as crazy as they pley, patience is a must and you must quell the erge to go all in without great hands. Let them make the mistakes not you.

Freeroll Strategy:

1st hour: Tight
2nd hour: Selectively Aggressive
3rd hour (money bubble early): Tighten Up Until itm, then play selectively aggressive.
Last hours: Survival. Do what you can to cash for as much possible.

In the beggining of the freeroll i play very conservative when im out of position, but occasionaly try to double my stacks playing any suited medium cards from early position with the objective to show for my opponents that i could easily raise with any kind of plausible hand, cause if u are just playing with good hands everyone who is really paying attention to the game would easily fold when u make a value bet, and thats not what u want to happen when u really have good cards.

I appreciate all the feed back from all, and will try some of ya'lls advice. Gl to all in your games

for freerolls try playing extremely tight in the beginning only playing premium hands like AA, KK, QQ, AK etc... Do this until the first break. after the second break is usually when the comepetion gets a little better. Most of the donks have lost at this point and you are most likely playing with regular CCers, whom some are amazing at poker, or you are playing with the overally aggressive donks with monster stacks who got lucky in the beginning of the tournement. This is where you wanna loosen up a bit but be sure to maintain a style that is within your comfort zone. Play like this up until around the bubble. Depending on your stack around the bubble depends on whether you play loose or tight (loose-large stack....tight-low stack) After you reach the money usually the blinds are so high that it is all in or fold. Obviously play tight and try to make it to final table and then on to victory...

I TRY TO PLAY TIGHT FOR THE FIRST FEW ROUNDS AND THEN TURN IT ON FOR A COUPLE MORE ROUNDS. THAT WAY ALL THE DONKEYS GET OUT THE WAY FIRST FEW ROUNDS AND THEN YOU CATCH THE DONKEYS WITH CHIPS TRYING TO BUY HANDS IN THE SECOND SET OF ROUNDS. AFTER THAT I AM VERY SELECTIVE ABOUT WHICH HANDS I PLAY AND WHICH HANDS I DO PLAY. JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE CHIPS, DOESNT MEAN YOU CAN CALL AND HOPE YOU CATCH SOMETHING. THEN WHEN I GET CLOSE TO THE MONEY I WILL LET OTHERS TAKE EACH OTHER OUT, AND WHEN IN THE MONEY, I WILL PLAY A LITTLE MORE AGGRESSIVELY TO GET AS MUCH POSITION AS I CAN.

take the 1st few rounds to spot the donkeys find out where every1 is at than pick your spots to attack.. sometimes u will get outdraw but the fundamental theorem of poker says that u gain by them making them do the wrong play so don't be discourages

...then value bet a bluff, lol.

I have built my bankroll on FTP with nothing but Freerolls.
I won $2 about a year ago and have managed to keep it and make it grow since then. I have about $50 right now.

That being said, strategy in a Freeroll - DON'T even try bluffing for the first hour. Play only the best cards till the first break and if you have built any kind of decent stack then you can start pushing against the small stacks left.
If you have managed to double up and build a good sized stack, play big stack poker whenever possible (don't forget about position though)

If you make it to the bubble rounds, change gears again and play TIGHT (that can even mean throwing away those small pairs, especially in early position or against those quick all-ins)

Once you are in the money play as you see fit, aggressive when you have it, tight when you are drawing.

Hopefully some of this info will help.

Good Luck out there (except if you are playing against me )

play in as many as u can, only way to up your chances of cashing. Play pocket pairs and go all in, no slow play or bs just go all in and hope for the best. When u get a stack u can play poker until then wait and go all in.

Sorry.

THAT will bring you nowhere.

When I play against guys like you just one word: "set-tag-to: instadonk (red tag)

Bingo is for old-aged-homes.

:t omato:

I have mainly played in freerolls since starting to play online. There are plenty of people out there that must love to play bingo. Usually I play very tight at first and then as the blinds go up, the quality of players have evened out a bit. Some sites are better than others to play the freerolls . Gl at the tables.

There are some very good answers here and most of what I will say is covered.

At the beginning of this year (2008) I decided to do a "Jesus" and build a bankroll from freerolls.
I tried several different strategies. Pushing all in every hand, very loose, very tight etc.

IMO the best strategy is to play extremely tight (even sit out if you like) in the first hour.
On sites like PokerStars where a NLHE Freeroll has 12,000 entrants you will find that at least half, will be knocked out in the first hour. (I played in one, on a Sunday, where 10,000 were gone before the first break.)

Pay close attention to the other players at your table and see who is calling/raising/pushing with crap. Who will chase flushes and gut shot straights or just stay with overcards. Who will call a C bet,ATF, with anything.

When you get a good hand, in position, do not be afraid to push ,someone will call. You should already know what the others at your table will do.

Be prepared for a lot of suckouts and try not to get too upset when someone catches runner/runner to beat you. It will happen.

As was pointed out , freerolls are not very cost effective as you can play for several hours for very little return. The way to combat this is to multitable as many games as you can handle. (If you are playing supertight this is not that difficult.)
I also joined a lot of sites, without depositing, just to play their freerolls.
(Warning.. Check what freerolls the site has before joining. Some only allow depositors to play.)

Hope this helps.
All the best.

I play extremely tight until the first break then all of the fish are normally out. Then i gradually loosen up and make a run for the final table

Hey, I place in about 1 of 10-20 freerolls I play so there's more than luck involved. Lately I've placed more often even. Last night I got 8th or something in BD tourney on pokerroom and this morning placed in $300 freeroll on pokerroom for 6 bucks. So it just takes lots of free time and patience to place in freerolls. Considering each freeroll takes like 4-5 hours or more, 10 could = 30 or more hours of play before winning anything, and maybe you only end up winning a buck.
I have a terrible problem though. I place and win free cash for a BR, then lose it all in SNGs usually. Damn, i can place in freeeroll but not 10 player sng i need help...

I sometimes feel alike.
I cashed in some freerolls and won a few but I drained it at 1.25 sngs.
Killed by crazy moves mostly or occasionally donking it off.
I know how it feels.
There must be a leak in your play.
Search the strategy info on this site, it will help.

If you wait for about an hour all the donks are usually gone, I did it and there was 700 left.

I see a lot of people saying wait for premium hands during the first hour of play. This sounds great in theory, however you're looking at 8 min blinds and by playing this tight when you do have good hands other players will have already built stacks large enough to try to bust you. And the last thing you want is multiple players calling your all in when you finally find those aces.

I think you have to play moderately tight despite where you are in the tournament. However, you're going to have to see some flops (As cheaply as possible) and you are going to have to make some hands. To win or even place in one of these monster 5k people PLUS(!!) tournaments you are going to have to get lucky a few times and create a stack that you can play with.

Simply doubling up in the first hour is useless. You're going to be sitting there with your 3k chips looking around the table at guys with 15k plus stacks that ARE willing to bust you with mediocre hands.

So what to do? I think you have to see flops with medium strength hands early (CHEAP) and flop to them, bet out (You WILL be called most of the time) and take a few chances as time goes on.

You'll start to feel when the blinds get big enough that a standard raise (3-5 times the blinds) is going to work as a steal. However in some of these tournaments... that point will NEVER happen.

I see as many flops as I can in position. I find that most of my successful bluffs are going to come after the flop when everyone checks to me. And I may have to fire another bullet after the turn. I'll bet (min raise)my drawing hands when I'm out of position to try to get a cheap look at the next card. People in these tournaments see that min raise and a lot of times they'll call when otherwise they would have bet (more) instead.

However, I will RARELY EVER slow play and never use the min raise when I have any kind of hand in these tournaments. When I flop a monster and make a large bet, a lot of times people just flat out wont believe me and will sometimes go over the top with nothing thinking they can get me to fold when I'm priced in even if I WANTED to fold.

Basically, stay away from the big bluffs, slow playing, and bet your draws out to get you to see them on the cheap. Be aware when you see that third sooooooooted card hit the turn. Dont be surprised when you pot bet the flop and were called, and they hit the flush on the turn. Most of the players at this level are not concerned about pot odds, and figure their flush draw is a better hand after the flop than your set is, and would call the bet even if they could see your hand.

The more of these tournaments I play in, the more I seem to understand them. If I waited on aa/kk/ak, by the time I got them it usually wouldnt matter anyway. AA all in with four callers is not exactly my favorite place to be.

I have played 5 freerolls a day for about 3 years now, they are just for fun and to avoid my wife mostly. When I do the best is when I can chip up early, wait for the nuts and when the crazy's go all in, u got em. Then just sit back relax, walk away, what ever, check back in awhile, if your now no longer the big stack, play conservatively until you get a few more then walk away, repeat until final table, this is usually a lot more like regular poker because people have invested 1-5 hours and arent going to donk it away, unless they all presciribe to the same theory, tight in the beginning loose at the end, if so just take em all out with a BB specials. And never go allin pre flop on full tilt with the best hand YOU WILL LOSE!