How to win in the freeroll tournaments?

In order to win in the freeroll tournament, i heard that it is important to play it in super tight to keep yr stacks as much as you can...it can be bet/call only when you got AA, KK, QQ, AK & AQ...then what you need to do is raise & re-raise...in this way, you can get rid of the high risk and survive to the last stage...is that the same way as you are using now to win the prizes?? if not, any tips can be shared??

Thats not a bad strategy until you get really good at poker. Usually a very high % of players in freerolls are very bad, so once you get an idea of how to play, you can play alot of flops in position and outplay them postflop. If your too tight though you are most likely are going to blind down to next to no chips, then you will be forced to take coinflips just to get back to chip avg. Theres always a happy medium.. dont just play any two cards in position just for the hell of it. Try to pick good spots to keep your stack healthy.

leon818, this info helped me improve tremendously (more consistent making it deep or ITM in these types of tournaments) so I hope it helps you out as well:

http://www.cardschat.com/freeroll-to...t-strategy.php

You may also want to check out the Strategy Articles tab for other good stuff.

GL.

initially is only good to start with good hands, but after winning twice in his stack, I believe you can make good pots, in good positions with games not so good but suggestive .. good luck!

I would like to tell u that u follow the KING CURTIS STRATEGY...
Actually its the very best strategy i came across and it had helped me a lot in improving my game...U can find that in the strategy section here...
Just search it and i bet u that it will help your game a lot....

All I can say is exploit all you can. Tight is right, but open up your range when you're in position. Know going in that you can win only playing 5 hands or less an hour. It will help you keep your patience.

Don't pot commit unless you have the nuts. When you do have the nuts don't slow play unless the pot is passive otherwise shove. You'll be more likely to be called down by ppl with top pair if they think they still got outs. Shove on the river and they'll fold.

Try to loosen up a bit about an hour + into the tourney unless the table is already loose. Keep your tight image and when the antes kick in start stealing a few blinds.

Depending on the site be weary of being dealt PP... almost 100% of the time at least one more person got dealt one as well. If you're holding pocket kings and someone ahead goes all in he does more often than not have pocket aces.

I prefer turbo tourneys TBH.. You can slide into the money easy by just using your time and folding. If you're 25 out of the money you'll more than likely be able to slide in and then play for first after the bubble.

Other than that play your game and learn.. but don't think because you learn how to win at freerolls that you'll win anywhere else.. They are beasts in and of themselves. So don't be discouraged if you win a bit then go and lose 2 months worth of winnings in 2 days at the cash tables. =)

thats the strat for a beginning player. but this will result that you can make it to the bubble. If you want to get to FT you will have to play a lot more hands use some bluff at times. But you will learn this after while (or not).
And o yeah read some book about poker!

Playing in freerolls is much different from other MTTs.

One person recommended playing super tight all the time, which is good towards the end of the tourney, but at first not so much.

Back when I used to play tons of freerolls (and was pretty good at winning them) my strategy was:

Early on, when blinds are low, play all but the absolute shitiest of all cards (unless there is a raise). You may not always hit, but early on it only costs you 10 or 20 chips to see. People play fairly lose, so when you do it, you can take some big pots.

Blinds will go up fast (there are usually tons of players), and if you plan on surviving into the money you will have to build chips fast. Good hands (AK, QK, AA, KK, QQ, etc) are all in hands. People will call with A# and worse frequently.

I agree that it's best to see more hands if you can early on when blinds are low but you have to be a tad seasoned to do this right. You'll end up with more speculative hands and need to know how to play post flop better than the average new guy. If you have a good player at the table they'll notice how loose you are and start making you pay. By all means though if you are in position and can limp in then by all means go for it with a wider range. Also if you happen to get deep stacked middle way or so try small ball strategy. If you don't know what that is check out Daniel Negreanu explaining small ball on you tube.. =) Keep an eye on the SS players too. If one has position on you don't play hands you don't want to call his all-in with.

Try this. Early on (small blinds), see as many flops as possible. With dominate hands, go all in (try to do so against smaller stacks). A lot of players can't resist calling with mediocre hands. If you can build a big stack early, you can see more flops with marginal cards and hopefully continue to build your stack. Tighten up gradually as stacks get large. One thing, if you live with the all in, you die by the all in. Get used to losing. Odds of winning a monster freeroll are not good. Good Luck!

There are two main schools of thought:

1) Play tight early and let the horrible players bust each other out for a while. Play generally ABC tight-aggressive solid poker.

+++ Gives you the best chance of hitting small, more consistent cashes. Is decent practice for developing a style that can beat small real-money tournaments.

--- Is terminally dull (especially seeing as you don't have anything on the line) and time-consuming often for minute rewards.

2) Play insanely. Shove given any half-decent opportunity and look to build a stack early on.

+++ Gives you the best chance of running very deep, although given freeroll field sizes this won't happen often. Not as time-consuming as playing supertight.

--- You will bust out of a lot of tournaments early and this method doesn't really give you much practice for real-money tournaments.

Pick one of the choices and go with it. The one thing you need more than anything else to outright win a freeroll with thousands of players in it is a healthy dose of luck, though.

realizing also that in some of these freerolls players sit out a direct influence on the table and the odds. there fore some of the time the opponent for wanting to take the blinds, dig your own grave, leaving us all his stack. good luck to all!

Well in the beginning playin insanely tight and insanely agressive is probably good. (i.e. wait for a big hand, push all-in). Agressiveness is usally the way to go throughout, but vs really big bluffers its better to let them hang themselves.
One key to playing lose agressive in late stages is to have good reads and be able to check-fold at times.
Changing gears is a very usefull tool as well. In theory this might seem very simple, but my experience is that changing gears requires quite some practice.

Be loose in the beginning. There are tons of players who just don't care and you can get chips off them easily. After hour 2 is when you should start playing smarter. I find it pretty easy to accumulate chips in the first 2 hours.

I have done well in these, and tight agressive is the way to go,but the first 2 to 3 hands is a great time to triple or quadruple up.If 3 or 4 people shove allin your pretty much getting good odds with any suited connecters,ive done this and made deep runs in tourneys quite a few times, other times i only wasted the 5 minutes to play the first few hands.The thing is once ive tripled up (or more) i usually tighten up for the next couple hours but sometimes get payed off big if i pick up a good hand in the next level or 2 because people think im playing crazy.I have top 3 finishes in NL , razz and horse freerolls.I dont play many anymore because my bankroll is big enough to comfortably play $ 2 to $5 multi table tourneys as often as i want.I also have a good ROI % +29 so I shouldnt be going broke any time soon with good bankroll management.I do occasionally play a freeroll while I play 1 or 2 real money tourneys which makes it even easier to just triple up or bust out of the freeroll.

I'll chime in and say that the link bazerk posted is definitely a good one. I just cashed 27th out of 7500 and its all thanks to premium hands. However, when the antes get introduced your going to have to start stealing some blinds and you'll have to pick and choose your spots wisely.

Last piece of advice is not to raise too much or even at all with a pair of JJ's or lower and hope you flop a set because it's likely that they'll push all in and you wont get to see the flop (I hope your not going all in with JJ's or even QQ's and lower). I've found that when I do this and actually flop the set, bet the flop, then MIN bet the turn, someone tries to be PRO and re-raises me.

You'll have to feel it out, but yea, stick to those premium hands, try to flop sets and only get your money in when you have the best of it because "You cant lose what you don't put in"... Classic Rounders style!

For Freerolls:
Beginning: loose-aggressive. play like a moron. all-in with any legitimate hand. Suited connectors? all-in. Any premium hand, all-in. Be the aggressor, not the caller. If there's several all-ins in front of you, fold unless you have monster pre-flop hand. I'm sure cardschat freerollers know how I play because I either bust out early or cash. I rarely bubble or get eliminated in middle stage. It's either all or none. This is how I've been cashing many of my freerolls.

Middle/Late Stage: This is where skills start to appear and come in. Since people spent 1-2 hours, people want to cash or win. At this stage, u wanna be a player with lot of chips and not short-stacked.

Playing tight-aggressive survival mode in beginning stage is horrible.
So bottomline
Beginning, loose-aggressive. Either bust early or build many chips
Middle Stage, tight-aggressive
Late Stage, Keen-aggressive

The early part of a freeroll has many people who will go all in or call an all in with nothing.

In my opinion, you have a few options:

a) Join the bandwagon. Make your early gamble. If it pays off, you then have a nice stack that will give you a better chance later. If you bust, well it has cost you nothing and you've barely wasted much time.
NOTE: Choose a point to stop. Your luck will not hold out forever. Be thankful for your early windfall, but change to one of the other options after a short while.

b) Avoid the frenzy. Walk away and leave it to sit out whilst the blinds are low and people are treating it like a lottery. Come back when you still have about 2/3 your initial chipstack and try playing from that point (after play has settled down somewhat). That way you are not wasting your time watching the chaos.

c) Capitalise. Stay and play, but keep in mind that hands can escallate quickly. Watch the tempo of the table to see whether it is likely to have pre-flop all-ins, post-flop all-ins, or simply standard small pots, and play to that.
* If pre-flop all-ins are rife, play only premium hands. You can lead with an all in that you expect at least one or two callers for, or you can opt for a limp or small (standard) bet that you expect someone to try to force you out and surprize them by calling/reraising instead.
* If post-flop all-ins are the go, then a few random limps can be good. However fold unless you hit hard. A good hit on the flop can pay bigtime.
* Alternatively, the table may simply play a normal game. In which case you can play as if it weren't a freeroll. Or you could stir it up with an occasional wild bet of your own if you think your tablemates are very timid. Just dont go overboard.

Mid tournament, most of the lotto players have busted or settled down, so you can play a normal game for the most part. However be cautious of those that decide they need to go and start wildly throwing their chips about. Sometimes this is just a ruse to get you to call their monster had with a mediocre hand. Othertimes it is genuine, but still proves disruptive to the play. By this stage you have likely invested considerable time into this game, and thus should be less inclined to gamble it all on a draw. However, if you are dealt a monster at the right time, or happen to be shortstacked and really need a windfall anyway, then sometimes these players can be just what you need.

Late tournament, everyone has made a considerable investment (of time), and thus the fact that it is a freeroll is less apparent. However, check for absent players. Since it is a freeroll, there are likely players sitting out (for whatever reason) sometimes (but not often) even on the final table. Play aggressively when an absent player is in the blinds, because you know they'll fold and their chips are just padding the pot. Others may not be so observant, so you can pick up quite a few free small pots this way.

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One word or warning

Be careful to only use freeroll tactics in a freeroll. I've occasionally forgotten that I was playing a paid entry tournament and lost my entry on a gamble I never should have taken. So, if playing to the type of game you are in, make sure you know what type it is.

I think pattience to receive good hands is the key to play with donkey players. All u need is play good hands in the right moments gl

"Freerollers are the slot machine players of poker"
--VP Pappy

Having said that, I like playing freerolls. Unlike the pressure-filled money games that I play now and then, they are a pleasent, relaxing, fun-filled couple of hours spent, although, if you make it to the final table, it could be as long as 6 hours.
Now that I'm retired, (an aerospace optician) my morning ritual, with coffee and bagels and maybe a shot of Jack Daniel's..or two, is to play the 9:15 freeroll on Absolute Poker. (as vppappy) I enjoy talking to people from around the world (although at Absolute, most are Americans, unlike on Poker Stars, where most are foreigners).
My style, from early to late in the tournament, is to play tight...a little less tight...kind of
aggressive...aggressive...very aggressive...go for it!
I've won a few times, but victory is usually very tough because of all the loose callers in every hand. Someone is bound to hit the best hand if you can't get the callers down to 1 or 2. Somehow, you have to get more people out, and that usually means raising bigger with your good hands.
I slow-play more than usual, also, because of all the callers that pour money into the pots with marginal hands. I save the all-in as my best weapon and use it only when I have the nuts, or near nuts. Why gamble when you can win more chips by just raising larger and have some chips left over for a comeback if someone gets very lucky (like runner-runner) against you.

Google me (VP Pappy) for a lot of crazy poker stuff on the Internet that I've written and posted over the years.

Good luck, although if you play smart you won't need it.

Terrence "VP Pappy" Murphy

"There are three kinds of losers at the poker table: (1)Those who never raise. (2) Those who think about raising, but don't. (3) And those who raise without thinking."
--VP Pappy

I do say these are the best strategies for the freeroll tournaments, and those are really helpfull, we must accept it. But do think like that, dont keep that rules bcoz we all are not robots/computers/automatic doing machines, We all are humans so think about the situation and do it. If you keep on doing the strategy you learned. Then i must say" God help him" lol!

If you do play really tight you have a higher chance of making it somewhat far, but you will not have as many chips. You need to go out probably a little more aggressive than you think. It also depends who you are playing against. If you are in a large freeroll with a lot of people, I do recommend that you play tight, but you have to be ready to adjust and play a looser just so you have the chance to do well.

Yeah man ! As you said...You have to play tight because the freerolls tourneys are often full of donkyes...When you have a good hand push , push and push again ! Don't let the donkeys to see more free crads because they can catch something...And then you're lost

Beginning: Blinds are low, limp in with almost anything suited, raise preflop with JJ-AA and AK, AQ. When you hit big with a flush or straight, try and extract maximum value, if they raise you, reraise, try to get them to feel pot committed and develop your chip stack.

Middle: All in donkeys will be all but gone here, stacks will be bigger and smarter here, its harder to see cheap flops with suited stuff because of the rising blinds and antes, you should have a 'raise or fold' mentality here, if you get AA-JJ raise from any position preflop, TT-66 raise from late position, and limp from middle and early and try to hit trips. Blinds stealing is possible now but still difficult, aim for people with avg. stacks.

Late: Closing in on the bubble stealing becomes easier if you have a stack, and becomes absolutely necessary if you're medium stacked. Be careful though, some big stacks will call you down if you try to steal from them. Concentrate on trying to get into the money. If you're short stacked you might have to take some risks preflop with stuff like AJ and AT and low pocket pairs. Try to take these risks from late position as it will be less likely you will be called down as it is less likely people will have a hand.

I'm currently playing freerolls at UB when they're available - I'm a poker lover deployed to Iraq and don't want to play online seriously until after I get out and can focus on it, or at least after my mid-tour leave next month.

They don't have 'quality' free rolls - $50 free roll sat to enter the weekly $1000 FR, and a 5000 'point' freeroll (I hope to god they mean status points). I have yet to cash in them - I ussually get my money in good and get sucked out on.

Play slow at the start. If you get dealt a premium hand like AKs or AA-KK, don't be afraid to shove preflop. While bet sizing is an important aspect to practice, if there are 30 chips in the pot and you go all-in for 1490 with AA, you are probably getting called by an idiot with a K5o.

Take advantage that everybody will be looking for a chance to build a chip stack early. Also, take advantage of the fact that everybody will be looking for a chance to build a chip stack in the middle stages. Finally, take advantage of the fact that everybody will be looking for a chance to build a chip stack late.

They'll pay of your AA, your sets, your made straights and flushes, because they have nothing to lose but the time they spent in the game. And by all means, don't get your money in bad. It's hard enough with variance to get crippled over the course of a multi-table tournament where people will call with ATC. Just don't be one of those people. Playing TAG in a freeroll is key, it will open up lots of opportunities, as most people will tell you, your implied odds in freerolls are ridiculous.

Are you playing to win or just make the money? If your playing to win you will need to play more hands then that, or you will eventually get blinded out. You will also need to make some bluffs at the right time, but still play "super tight". I play a lot of freerolls, and make the money about 40% of the time.

What freerolls are you playing? 40 percent is a lot when only like 1 percent cash.

I don't wish to brag, but I have won a decent amount of freerolls in my year or two of playing online poker, ranging from 250 to 10000 entrants. When there are a bunch of sitters, there is only one strategy: get out of the gates fast and establish yourself as a BIG STACK who is NOT AFRAID. After all, it's just a freeroll - play smart, establish a nice image, but you're going to face a lot of donks who don't care and a small stack is JUST GOING TO HURT YOU. If you can build up early, within, say, 10 minutes (don't want to waste your time after all), then you have the opportunity to collect the blinds of the sitters at your table. In most 2700 FTP freeroll tournaments, there are about 500-600 players left after all the blinds are gone. Ideally, you'd like to be sitting anywhere better than 150 when that happens. By now, you probably have a tighter table of people who are starting to smell the money, and haven't played with you. There are two possible strategies: sit still, pick your moments, get a good image, etc. This is how I would normally play a cash tournament, obviously mixing it up a bit and taking apart the table if I smell weakness. HOWEVER, in a freeroll tournament you have to understand that hardly anyone pays attention to image or thinks above what they have (and maybe what you have). Therefore, as I have found, it is necessary to take advantage of their weakness so that you can force yourself to the top of the leaderboard and make a legitimate claim for the cash. HOWEVER, DO NOT BE STUPID! Being aggressive doesn't mean blind pushes and constant reraises - anyone will notice all in after all in after all in. Pick your spots, especially with those you notice have patterns (such as raise from button every time). If when the top 100 hits, you are above 30, just tighten up, pick your spots, and you should make it there.

Just a quick update: used the strategy I detailed above, went out 38/2700. Unfortunately, I ran AK into both AK and 99 with a semi short stack. The K hit but so did the 9. Anyways, point being I got pretty deep...was fun, and certainly refreshed my poker mind. Good luck!

early on the tournament you dont have to get involved in any hand because its full of calling machines and you would risk too much with any hand

when you think you are in the next step, start playing very thight and lately, thight but much more agressive, because no one wants to lose time, and then people start to think twice before calling, so you can steal lot of blinds

those are true words, but lately on the tournament everybody takes it more seriously because nobody wants to lose time, so if you can survive the first hour or two, it becomes more real

that is good until the blinds start killing your chips.

Ahg i wish FT still had the 2700s... my problem at like 600-400 im usually short stacked with 20K in chips, and like you said, hard to create a real image on the table when the skill of the players are so low that they dont really pay attention. But thanks for the suggestions, they can definitely help.

I just mostly play in the private freerolls on full tilt that don't have more then 400 players.