Tournament advice

I now like to play a little on various sites and have found vast differences in play styles on each one; more specifically freerolls and the "donk" play style.

So basically I've been playing for a good while now and I know how it works, but I'm interested in others' views and opinions on playing freerolls and other MTT's and how they deal with "donks". Any advice or tips would be great!!

My advice on freerolls is sit out for the first half hour at at least (unless its a turbo of course) that gets most of the early "ALL IN" donks out of there and it makes for a better tourney.

Well that kinda advice is all 2 general.

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 !



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I have noticed that if it is a freeroll that the donks dont go away, still plenty of bad plays 1 hour + into a freeroll. I would also suggest avoiding the setup hands that MTT's are famous for.Far too many times I am around the bubble and look down at AK suited or pocket 9's and get busted with them.

use the all-in as a last resort in less of course your chip count is low, when you have something strike and you will hit big off the donks

for freerolls the key is patience. wait until you get a solid or good hand to play for sure. the donks will give u ur chips.

I've actually final tabled a freeroll after sitting out till past first break. My advice for playing against donks,.. they WILL Call.. so this changes values of hands considerably. Often it is not worth raising it up with AK in EP or mid. pos. cuz it's just going to end up being a family pot anyways. As fars as hands like JJ go... play them like sm. pkt. prs. in donkrolls (early stages).
I'd also suggest playing SUPER TIGHT and then when you do manage to get into a pot HU with a good hand, just bet it out for value on each street cuz chances are you will get paid off by someone with top pr. weak kicker (they CAN'T FOLD!!!).
ALso... NEVER BLUFF!!!! (same reason as above.. they cannot fold!!).
Lots of betting tells to watch for amongst weak players too... the min bet on the flop most often represents weak (bottom pr., etc.) followed by a min bet on turn, and river... they can't 'check' either,.. thinking that checking is 'weak'.. they'll just put out small bets on each street instead. Also watch for min bet that gets doubled on turn & river.. same crap.

To win a freeroll with a ton of entrants. One has to fold, fold, and fold again. Win big pots with monsters and never, never draw. Flop it or drop it.

Lefty

to need to wait this out as players who are going to be pushing any 2 cards will not last-they end up getting picked off by stronger players-wit that being said you also need to get lucky as well to win a tourney-play tight early on as alot of the all in players will not go deep and you will be ok-the_urge27

The best advice I can offer for open freerolls with large numbers of players competing for small prize pools is to avoid them. They're fine when you're a newbie, but once you get even half-decent (not necessarily good, just half-decent) your EV per hour will be higher elsewhere.

Yes, they're safe in terms of not losing any money. However, look at how much you make from them per hour. It'll be a pretty small amount. It's really easy to raise your game level enough to make more elsewhere, so why not do it?

Playing free rolls, decide on a style of play, stick to it & hope you get lucky now & then. Should you happen on a style that allows you cash consistently hammer it & enjoy. The main benefits however are, experience, patience & learning to deal with the suckouts that happen in poker.

Are you as energetic/crazy in life as comes across in your 'article', mrknwitall? Also, I don't understand what's bad about playing tight. People in freerolls are generally way too loose, and so adopting a tight strategy will therefore win you some big money when you have a hand.

Ok, so I need some advice, I just got out of a free roll in 125th place.

Let me picture the situation: About half an hour ago I was leading my table, and 14th overall with 300 players left.

I had got some good breaks, some good reads, and some good hands, the cards turn dry but I don't really care, im sitting on my stack being patient.

At one point the cards start getting hot again, so I start raising, preflops (at this point the blinds are 50/100 and my stack is 4400)

I raise 3X BB pre flop on a QK suited, and I get re raised ALL IN!!! By some guy with 1.2k chips, I, of course fold.

I lose 150, ok thats fine, im 4150.

Keep going, cards keep coming, I keep raising pre flop, or limping in, but I always get raised, people going all in every where, making me dizzy, every one has huge stacks from donking ALOT!.

the blinds are now at 100/200 and my stack is at 3K, almost every one on my table has a bigger stack than me.

I don't mind, I tell myself once the good hand comes, limp in and go all in on a sure flop, or a 80% + odds, it shouldnt be hard with all these donkeys.

But the opportunity dosnt come and the blinds start being costy.

What should I do at this point?