Whats a good strategy for a freeroll?

When I play on bodog, the daily $500 freeroll, I notice that I can't get to the money cause there are guys constantly going all in on almost every hand in the beginning of the tourney. I'm not stranger to poker, I know I should be patient but sometimes I get sucked into one of these all in situations then dont hit my cards. I figured since its a free tourney, there will be quite a few "donkeys" on there just trying to double up as quickly as possibly. Does anybody have any advice on how to avoid this and get to the money in a freeroll? Could you share some of your strategies on how you've either won or got to the money in a freeroll you've played?

There's no magic formula to avoid losing in poker. Sometimes, you will lose. When people are willing to go or call all-in, you will probably lose 1/3-1/4th of the time you are all-in.

But in the long run, get your cards in with an advantage and you'll have a better chance than you would otherwise.

I won 1st in the FTP 2700-player $100 Freeroll once.

Truth be told, solid play will usually always get you deep in a tourney, but, of course, luck will always play a key role in getting you those key pots.

That being said, I think you're asking two things, and I'll rehash what I'm interpreting, in my own words.

First question was, "How do I avoid getting sucked out when the UTG open raises all-in with 3c6c and I call with QcQs"?

Unfortunately, you can't help it. Matter of fact, I don't think you could depend on a "non-donk" shove pre-flop until about 15%-25% of your competition has been knocked out of the tournament. For example, if you're in a tournament with 2700 players, somewhere between 400-675 of these players don't have a damn clue what they're doing, and would take any suited cards vs. an overpair any time of the day. And, as the game of poker has it, these monster suck outs can, do, and will happen. If you don't want to take the chances of falling victim to these gamblers (read: crapshooters), you have the option of tightening up your game until these 675 or so players are out of the tourney.

So, don't go all-in pre flop at these stages unless you a)Have a bonafide MONSTER, b)Are all-in with nothing more than 2-3 other villains, the less the better. I would recommend calling an all-in from late position, so that you have a better look at what you're up against. Last thing you want is to call an UTG all-in from early position and find the CO, SB, and BB call the all in with you. Obviously, the more players in with you, the more volatile your chances.

Second question was: "How do I get in the money."

Well, that question in itself is interesting. Any player could have their own mindmap set up as to what style would be the most profitable in a *ahem* freeroll tournament. Some could argue that the Tight-Aggressive style is what will get you to cash, others would prefer the Loose-Aggressive, stealing pots and bullying the table to gain, and build on, an early lead. So as far as playing style goes, I would say, go with what is the most profitable for you at the table you're at, whether to chip up, or to defend yourself from losing chips from a maniac who you just know is going to raise you 5 BB's on the flop regardless. But do note that it's very important that you are able and capable of switching gears, as well as identifying and adjusting to your opponents, as you will be switching tables constantly, so to know how to exploit every style of player.

Secondly, picking your spots is a priceless skill to master. One of the biggest mistakes that newer players tend to make, is that they give up too early in a tournament when they're short stacked, even though they still have 20 BB's. They start making bad decisions, and hit the panic button when they're still in the top 80% really early in the tournament. Stay patient, especially early in the tournament. The FTP 2700 person freeroll usually lasts about 5 hours. So, if you're not in mid-position on the leader boards by the first hour, just remember to put it in perspective. You're usually still good if you're still in the tournament with an average stack by the first hour.

Third, and this, just a bias, because it's a lesson that I'm still working on and am seeing to be very valuable: Think harder and deeper about your hand play than you ever have. CardPlayer magazine has segments of hand analyses' where pro players walk you through their thought processes on certain hands and why they played that hand the way they did, even if they didn't have the best hand. The best way to get deep in a tourney and getting in the cash is to be the cream of the crop. And the cream of the crop will always have an edge over other players. I'll throw out some subjects, all of which (plus others not mentioned), you'll really need to know, and instinctually be able to execute consistently, and implement into your game. Along with the other two points, this point being the most important:

*Pot Odds
*Position
*Implied Odds
*Fold Equity
*Reads and Tells
*Bluffing
*Pre-Flop Strategy
*Post-Flop Strategy
*Poker Math
*Continuation Bets... how, when and when not to do it.
*etc...

With that third point being said, understand the luck factor in freeroll tournaments, and understand that winning a freeroll may possibly be a false gauge as to how good a player you really are. And this is because not everybody in a freeroll actually plays like a poker player. But, if you take those 3 points into consideration, I think you won't necessarily get in the money all the time in a freeroll, but you definitely will have an edge.

Good luck at the tables.

exactly this

Play super tight in the beginning of those tourneys... let the donks knock eachother out.

You can't get "sucked-in" if you don't call.

You also can't get enough chips to make a difference as the blinds go up and you find yourself surrounded by stacks three times your size.

Seriously, thanks for the input guys, really appreciate that. Especially Iron Mic, I'm definitely gonna take heed to the points you mentioned in your post.

I sort of agree and sort of disagree. Lately I've been tight and limpy. I limp a lot. Limping has been good. It seems that the tiniest little raise whips about 3/4 of the players into a frenzy. Do that and it's a straight up Lotto. If I want to play the lottery I'll march my butt to the corner store and pay a buck for a ticket. But I've bought less than 10 tickets total in my life. Get the idea?

I want to play poker, a bad/cheap/free tournament's still a tournament, and it's still poker(of a sort).

Oh I'll watch the table and if it looks like pre-flop bets work, I'll use them, but cautiously, since some people really don't know a good starting hand from a hole in the ground.

Back to limping. I limp with a relatively wide assortment of hands, but I still consider it to be quite tight. I'm not risking one gaps(even though they work for a lot of folks), and I'm folding baby cards unless I'm blinded. I play all "premium" hands + large to medium pairs and suited connectors. But I play them the same way every time.

Position seems to be meaningless, especially early in a freeroll. IMHO that's part of the problem with microstakes, because at the absolute lowest stakes people are sitting with freeroll winnings and they haven't the foggiest about what to do with position. I own up to the fact that I didn't know how to use position until someone showed me how. I had to be taught. I don't see why others don't have to be as well.

Since position seems to be meaningless I just disguise my hands as best I can by limping with all my hands. People get gobsmacked when you limp with big hands but criminy, if ya don't then you're lucky to get a nice coin flip for most if not all your chips. Furthermore you're giving away info if you only raise with big hands.

So I limp, then I get Aggressive post-flop but only if I have those big cards and make my hand or can't see a good possible draw for opponent(s) on the board. They seem to think I'm bluffing at that point because I can double or triple up right there. If my cards are medium or babies(and I do check those in the BB) and I flop great, I stay passive. I know the big cards will think they have me beat and criminy if they don't go pushing with their big pairs and what not.

I know people say to turn off chat, but I've been using it to my advantage lately. I noticed that when someone delivers a bad beat, it makes another player yell at them(much of the time). They start calling them names, and if the "bad" player responds, it's the darnedest thing but they both seem to start tilting like crazy. I want to get in hands with them, and I do, and I win more.

Maybe that's just my experience.

But then I do have a flaw of my own I'm working on and that's in a different thread. I don't wanna hijack this one.

There's more than one way to skin a cat. Just an old saying that rings true, even though I do wonder why anyone would wanna skin a cat.

True. It's a simple risk/reward thing.

Getting "suked-in" w/ AJo is different than QQ.

The best strategy for freerolls is don't play them. There a waste of time imo.

Freerolls can be fun. You're entitled to your opinion of course. But what's so bad about wasting some time anyway? Some folks think gambling is in and of itself a waste of time and money.

Just saying.

my freeroll strategy involves going all in for the first 4 hands regardless. assuming im still in the game (which is almost never) i use my excessive stack to bully people around till i need to stop messing around late game. works great for me, but then again, i don't take them too seriously

lol play tightly until all the maniacs are out then start loosening up as the blinds get bigger and start trying ot eat your stack

There's just one problem with that, and it's that early on, position play, bluffing, and check-raising are pretty useless in a freeroll...

But if you can make it to the final table, wait a bit, see if others are at least solid, then try out the slightly more advanced moves.

Back to limping. I limp with a relatively wide assortment of hands, but I still consider it to be quite tight. I'm not risking one gaps(even though they work for a lot of folks), and I'm folding baby cards unless I'm blinded. I play all "premium" hands + large to medium pairs and suited connectors. But I play them the same way every time.

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I agree, with all the donks in freerolls, why give them information? I, too in freeroll limp with almost every hand until atleast half the competition is gone. Then follow your usual poker style with your usual starting hands. I also agree that even then most people wouldn't know what position play is.

The strategy for an online freeroll is easy. Chip up by running races and stealing from players that are sitting out. You must have a big stack to win. Mostly to avoid losing when allin. Being extra tight is not a good way to win a freeroll. You must get lucky!!!!!!!

Hey I don't know anyone who folds certain hands, no matter what. Still, I gotta disagree to a certain degree...

See, a race isn't the only way to get your money in good. It also isn't the only way to double or triple up in a hand. It's one way...

Which brings me to an interesting aspect. People play backwards. They play loose and free earlier and then flip it to tight later. That's freakin' backwards. It's better to play tight early on. Then switch to loose later on. Also when you get to the bubble it's important to check out how the play's going then play the opposite way. If short stacks are all going kamikaze around you and you have a good sized stack, remember to keep an eye on the people who also have good sized stacks. You must be wary. It's easy to get sucked into a crippling situation just trying to bust people out.

What I mean is, when it's loose, dig your claws in nice and tight. When it's tight, loosen up. Just go against the flow during the bubble period. Sometimes it's good to fold aces. Yeah kings too. Sometimes. And that can be when you reach the bubble if you have a decent sized stack. Obviously you don't fold them against 1 or 2 players whose stacks are 1/10 the size of your own, but if a stack that rivals your own or better is in it, that race can hurt you. Why blow off the majority of your chips when so close to cashing? Why?

So much of how to play is situational. It's based on your table and image. Still, if you've ever watched the list of top players you'll have noticed that it changes frequently until close to the end of the tournament. And why is that? Because so many people have an ultra-aggressive frame of mind and want to continuously double and triple up throughout the tournament. The only tournament that can be won inside 5 minutes is an HU SnG. The rest require some measure of patience.

Understand, my typical cash game could be considered LAG so extra-tight to me is only tight to someone else. Passive to me is agro to someone else. To me seeing 30% of flops is quite normal, so 25% or 20% is crazy-tight, for me. It varies by individual though.

I agree with a lot of the "Fold early and often" during the first 30-40 minutes of any freeroll. Sure, you get guys with fat stacks, but they come back down to earth quickly. During the first 30 mins, I play like 15-20% of my hands, tops! I watch the table, see who the "marks" are and look at trapping them later. And like ND said, tight, then loose, go against the grain in the game. But don't force the action because you are bored! But again it doesn't help that I play when I have a ton going on, so I sit out a lot, but take it for what it's worth and experiment!

GL

AB

what i do is play tight at the beginning, then as then as the blinds raise get more and more aggressive. this usually works because everyone else at the table gets conservative

I've come to really detest free rolls precisely because of the All-In mentality that accompanies it. It's boring to wait an hour for the donks to flush themselves out so you can get deep enough to have a shot... I think I'm getting old and impatient!

Best strategy - Don't play them

That's not helpful and it pretty much comes across as condescending. Makes ya sound like you're rolling in loot and lording it over folks who are flat broke or just not ready to take the plunge and deposit.

Anyway, I wish the OP and everyone else who enjoys freerolls + microstakes, i.e. most of the people here - the best of luck . Hang in there.

Good advice for the most part and a very good question. Now I'm ready to go play a freeroll.