How to Succeed in Online Freerolls

Here's an article on ways to succeed in online freerolls. I thought it might be helpful. A couple of tips might be questionable. Hope you enjoy it:

Online Poker Freerolls are a unique breed amongst poker tournaments and require a certain way of playing in order to succeed. Here are 6 top tips that will help you succeed in online poker freeroll tournaments.


1. Be patient.
I've put this rule first as I believe patience is the number one most important quality required to do well in the freerolls. One important point to bear in mind is that freerolls usually have hundreds of entrants and can take several hours to complete. If you want to be there at the final table you will need to be very patient.

2. Be Aggressive.
Freerolls are multi-table tournaments and you will usually be seated at a table of ten all the way through the tournament. This is a good thing in a way as it means you don't need to adjust your play to suit a shorter table, but it does mean that when you do have a good hand you need to play it aggressively. Top pairs like Aces and Kings should always be raised strongly pre-flop as they can often come unstuck after the flop. Whenever you get a good hand, ie a high pair or AKs, AQs, you must be aggressive.

3. Play less hands.
As well as being aggressive you need to be controlled and play less hands. Don't be tempted to play hunches, sit tight and wait for the good hands then play them aggressively. A good rule of thumb is to throw away any hand that contains a card that's lower than an eight.

4. Use your table position.
If you are first or second in the betting, a King 10 isn't a very good hand. There are nine players to follow you and if any of them have a pair or an Ace or a King with Queen or Jack then you are struggling. However if you are at the end of the betting and you can "limp in" with a call or check, then your KT becomes an altogether better prospect. Nobody has raised yet so your King might be good and it is certainly worth seeing the flop.

5. Vary your play.
Although you need to be patient and wait for a good hand, don't become too predictable. If you only play the big hands and always raise then your opponents will simply back down and let you take the blinds. The trouble with this is you won't be winning enough in blinds to keep your head above water as you are playing too few hands. You need to vary your style of play and become hard to read.

7. Watch your opponents and learn their playing style.
You can learn a lot of valuable poker information just by watching your opponents at the table. Do they bet almost every hand, do they sit back and wait for a good hand (like you!), do they fold easily at the first sign of a raise, do they just want to see a free card, is there a "maniac" who raises every hand?

8. Concentrate on the game.
If you want to find out how your opponents play, you need to concentrate fully on what you're doing. Don't write emails while your playing or surf other sites, and turn off that TV!
11. Remember that your opponents will play different cards from you.
Just because you are doing everything right doesn't mean that they will too! People will play all sorts of hands, especially in an online poker freeroll and you can expect some crazy bad beats. Particular attention should be paid to the possibility of straights, if there are three cards on the table like 5 6 8 for example, there's a good chance somebody might be playing with a 7 4!

Very good i will try this and see if it works for me. TY.

thanks for the great advice

Playing freerolls is very hard I hope your advice will help my playing because nothing else has. Lol.

even tho i have won plenty of tournaments i think im still going to try this....i use to always play aggressive

some excellent tips there. i've only just started playing in freeroll tournaments and i agree totally with tips 1 and 2. Patience and Aggression in my opinion are the two best weapons in freeroll tournaments. just by being patient you get yourself closer to the money as all the "dead wood" get eliminated very quickly. by playing your strong hands aggressively you should have no trouble increasing your stack.

Discipline is also important, i find that later in the freeroll tournaments i tend to get bored waiting for the strong hands and will start playing more pots. thats usually how end up getting knocked out. its something i have to work on and i'm sure i'm not the only one with this problem.

sounds like good advice for live tournaments too

Rock

I read this post awhile back, I look at it and saw that it was great advice and put it on the back burner. Since then I have been playing MTT's and Heads up Action without utilizing this information, and only placing up to 30th postion. Now that this post has re-surfaced I will no doubt use it to my advantage this go around.


SHERMSTICK

Great article. I use alot of these methods, but can still try a few new things. Thanks

so true at poker com patinece 4000 chips usually cashes there gla

If everyone else on this thread reads this, then I wont stand a snowball in hells chance of winning any money! Next time, secretly email these tips to me, OK? - quint

O.K. T1 I think this is the most well thought out game plan I've ever seen, however I totally disagree. If you want to win at freerolls my advice is don't get in them. Then you win.

Thanks for the information. I will be sure to check it out.

thank your for the advise!

Welcome

Just to say that I get what you are saying. I have played alot and if you play like is stated your chances of being there when it comes down to the money is bettter than not.

I often get 2hrs into a tournament and have a shot at some cash with a nice stack. For some reason at this point go out most of the time.

Nearly the only times i make it that far is when i wait for my hands and not go all in early. Why i change my game to the other extreme later in a freeroll is something i don't know. It seems that i can play well early if using the ideas posted, but when the blinds get higher and people start going for the big bets, i lose the plot....any ideas on how to keep my head would be great.

Nice adive, some very good tip there, thx alot.

PokEepaul
Pauk
Lincoln
UK

Excellent advice for online or live games. Now if someone could explain how to stop from getting KK cracked they would have a bestseller with all players including the pros.

very useful tips
thanks

Also be sure to checkout our excellent Freeroll Tournament Strategy guide.

Thank you for the advice. I have to work on some of the points mentioned.

patience. everything is about about patience and a little bit of luck. gl everyone!!!

that was some good adivce i already use most them tips ty

Thanks for advices. I already win a few freerolls, but it's very hard and nervous.Crazy bad beats been often. Tried be more patient.

I do beleive that you have alot of good advice on freerolls but when you say no bluffing i become confused. In a freeroll there becomes a time when you can very close to the money cutoff or if it is a freeroll satelite to the seating. At this time i beleive bluffing shorter stacks is very important and necisary if you plan to survive...although dont go crazy!

Excellent advice ... I just started playing this style and won a little cash in Titan Free Roll ... not much the only thing I missed was ALWAYS bet pairs even small ones you could catch trips or a full house... missed this twice in the tourney once with pair of twos. Excellent advice once again.

This is a very good post. But I agree with one the guys who said that he would take a lot longer to act on his move inducing someone to call to his monster hand, thinking that he was weak. Also the bluffing rule. I only like to bluff when I have position on the BB and SB and no one has called to me on the button (But I will only do this with somewhat of a hand, and the blinds are short stacked). I also feel this is necessary for survival because let's face it if you have been getting nothing all tourney and have been folding 90% time I think if you make the 5x BB raise in the later stages of the tourney people are going to respect that and most likely fold there blinds down to you unless the suspect you are doing it too much. But great advice at any rate.

These are some great tips for playing in freerolls. I've played quite a few, and they can be frustrating for reasons everyone is familiar with, but they're not impossible.

Basically, you need to balance the need to build a big stack quickly with the fact that the tables are loose and even very sensible aggressive bets or all-in plays might be met with 3 calls and a lucky drawer. Personally, I try to play tight, but it's hard to resist loosening up when at least 1 person is all-in every hand for the first 2 rounds of play, and you watch people build huge stacks with straights that started out T7o or something.

I think you just have to accept that volatility throw out your bad hands, bet good ones aggressively, and fold when you think you're beat -- no different than most other tournaments, just you're doing it amidst a tornado of flying chips.

Nice to see the tips. I'd like to add a couple thoughts. The delays you observe in your opponents may indeed indicate weakness. OR The uncharacteristic pause in their play may be because their deciding how best to extract the maximum amount of chips from you, with their unbeatable hand. e.g. If they take about 50% longer to move and its a check-raise, then you should consider folding assuming this player has been reasonably solid up to that point.

gl

Yes, I agree with all the others, very good advise. I will implement it soon. Especially with playing less hands the better. Patience is the key word. Thanks again.

I was reading a post in reply to these words of advice and saw someone mention that they often make it to right before the money then get busted out of the trny. I too have had this problem in the past, and have been steadily working to improve my focus, and make the right folds very late in trny play to MAKE SURE i make the money. I have come out ahead numerous hundreds of dollars the last couple of weeks immersing myself with this focus. GOAL 1: MAKE THE MONEY. Goal 2: BE THE LAST ONE ONE ON THE LIST OF PLAYERS, # 1 IS THE ONLY NUMBER TO SHOOT FOR.
Making a fold preflop with KK or K-Q when you see an opponent who you feel undoubtedly has an ace is a tough fold. But three people from the money, it may be the right decision. I have made many tough lay downs lately, and sometimes i may have wound up ahead when the chips get distributed out at the end of the hand, but i know that i made my decision for a reason. So when you think someone would be crazy to fold cowboys AT ALL, you must first consider the ultimate goal as I must often make myself do very late in trny play: BE SURE YOU ALWAYS HAVE CHIPS IN FRONT OF YOU. You do not have a chance at making the money if all your chips are in the pot, no matter what you have in your hand.

P.S- regarding being aggressive: I placed 9th out of a field of 640+ players earlier today, and it was because i had A-A and did not push hard enough. I was short stacked and had to make sure the rockets got me some chips to work with, but had i raised more pre flop the 8-9 off that took me out may not have even been in the hand. I may feel better knowing i had the best hand until the turn or river, but needless to say, once all my chips were gone i was regretting making such a slow play at such nice looking cards. So keep on your toes, games take interesting twists and turns, just play your A game and learn from every play you make, win lose or draw.

GL on the tables all!

I think as always, you should be patient and hit hard when you can. Then when the blinds are high you can use other tactics

Yes, I agree with all the others, very good advise.
I already use most them tips .

That's great advice, particularly the part about hesitating, I usually hesitate because I thought hesitation would give other players the impression I have a decent hand and am thinking about my options for betting, etc. As for the rest of it I think I'm pretty on target. I finally took 3rd place in a freeroll last night and that was because I saw a cheap flop in the big blind with a 10 4 and got to see a 4, bet min at it and the turn was another 4. I checked it it was raised and I called.......Then the river...Woohoo another 4, first instinct was to go all in but decided to check. The 2 other players left, 1 raised the other raised him I went all in and had 40000 in chips they called and BAM took alot of chips and knocked one player out with 4 4s. Thats my best play ever. I was so StokED! Anyhow thanks for the advice Its very insightful!