Freerolls - Large or Small numbers of entrants?

Dunc8b

Dunc8b

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This is NOT a chance for anyone to whinge about passwords or the number who register for the CC freerolls. Post that stuff elsewhere.

I play on 888 and they have daily freerolls for members who have reached certain Levels. I am at Level 31 and so the highest I get to play in is the Level30+. This is for a prize pool of $1000. The number of entrants is capped at 5000. It's all a bit Bingo at the start but settles down after a short while. There are other similar freerolls that require a ticket, some can have 10,000+ entrants.

I find if I avoid the Bingo, then play steadily it is reasonably easy to reach the payout. Though $0.02 winnings isn't bringing my retirement day forward any.

I have played a couple of the CC games over on poker stars and find that the play is serious from the beginning. I assume that is because of the smaller number of entrants.

BUT... I think I have learned a lot and improved my game-play by playing in the bigger fields. If I didn't have that experience I would be less capable of playing the CC games.

(Finally)
What is a fair size for a freeroll? 500, 5,000 or 15,000?
Is it related to the prize money and how far it is split?

What is a good balance between the number of players and the number of places paid?
 
B

brrrddz

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The less the better my friend :)
 
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xttttt

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I think that it depends on prizepool / players rate. If there is 0.001$ for one player (10$ .. 10000 players) then they play less seriously (at least at start) than in tournament with prizepool 10$ .. 1000 players and much less than with 100 players.

If there is very little price for one player, I would play very aggressive to end it quickly or have a lot of chips (with a lot of luck probably).
 
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yurok42

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And yet there is a freeroll and tactics of the game from the tournament with a buy-in games is quite different! Is not it?
 
Joken23

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In small tournaments you can the difference if you are better than average but you probably will need to win more hands than in bigger tournaments.
 
ayahuasca

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I love games with small numbers of experienced players much more even if I didn't make big money playing them sometimes. It's annoying when you should fold almost all hands because of foolish all-ins of fishes.
 
LLIypuk

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The smaller parties, the easier I think.
 
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boomeranged

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Generally freerolls have a higher number of payouts. A tournament where you have to pay to play is generally 10% paid places which is a good payout for people who play sensibly. Retrospecting the outcomes, it doesn't really matter how many people are playing it, if you play good, you'll enter money more often. However, if you have a smaller field, the tournament gets over quicker and you can play more such tournaments. So, it's pretty much about how much time you have to invest in a freeroll as the outcomes will be pretty stagnant depending on your skill. Keep in mind, your time is also money.
 
antonis32123

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I would say a good, nice to play size for a freeroll is 500 , I have played some with these entrants and I must say it wasn't bad , less donkeys, it didn't last long , it was all good .
Now , if it cannot be 500 , let it be 1000 , not more , because then it is in my opinion more like a donk festival ...
I am only 5+level on 888poker , on that freeroll it has 500 or less to be left to start playing more decent normal poker hehea and less bingo .
I think there has to be a balance between the number of players and the number of places paid , the money shouldn't be on a few positions or on FT only , or else the players will see they have nothing to earn/lose and start shoving all the time like donkeys , just like SOL. Pay like a normal tournament , 1 of 7or 8 gets ITM .
 
supernuts25

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I don't even play free rolls if they have more than 500 players unless it's some crazy huge payout tourney. But yes the smaller the entrants the better for sure cause the payout isn't getting bigger
 
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marcumx

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in this instance bigger's not better unless it affects payout. if payout is capped at a certain number regardless of size, than smaller field is preferred
 
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NKGB13

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I do prefer the smaller tournaments as well, but it's really not that will make it easier or harder, for instance, CC FR are usually for 120 players.. It's hard as hell to win or FT this one, given the level of the players.. Open School League usually have 9k players, and getting into the points zone is easy as sit out! hehe.. Depends on the specific freeroll and how easy it is to enter.. that will tell how the game will run..
 
acidburnfx

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The tournaments are increasingly getting tighter regardless of size.
 
poliaris747

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Freeroll is a place for encouragements and attract new players into poker! For some it is an opportunity to earn the first money tournament. And if you yourself have noticed, tight play the first 20 minutes, 2k players leave, will calm the game! Number of players does not matter, tight play and you'll be in the money!
 
edc1

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i prefer a smaller field myself,back in the day befor black friday i played in some huge freerolls on pokerstars same with fulltilt-the only way ide play a larfe feild freeroll is if the payout was better
 
finaltable1

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this.

you have 1:200 to win or 1:25000 to win, 1st is better

Could not agree more. It's simple maths. I was playing freerolls where prize pool is just 5Euro, but number of entrants is approx 120, 6 tourneys per day... 4-10 times per week I was at 1st or second place, which is 1.2 or 0.8Euro. And end up "in the money" 50% of times. Actually there is 40% chance of getting "in the money" by just registering and doing nothing, 5 cents for places 9-27, 40% chance to get there by doing nothing means that if you register for 6 tourneys during the day and do nothing - you will get 10 cents minimum. Too bad it's over now. I liked this summer tourneys for FRC members 120 players average and 1 in 4 "in the money" Won 1st, 2nd and been "in the money" several times.
Now when i can't find a freeroll without any condition where less than 1 in 10 gets paid and number of perticipants is less than 1K
 
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james bright

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This is NOT a chance for anyone to whinge about passwords or the number who register for the CC freerolls. Post that stuff elsewhere.

I play on 888 and they have daily freerolls for members who have reached certain Levels. I am at Level 31 and so the highest I get to play in is the Level30+. This is for a prize pool of $1000. The number of entrants is capped at 5000. It's all a bit Bingo at the start but settles down after a short while. There are other similar freerolls that require a ticket, some can have 10,000+ entrants.

I find if I avoid the Bingo, then play steadily it is reasonably easy to reach the payout. Though $0.02 winnings isn't bringing my retirement day forward any.

I have played a couple of the CC games over on Poker Stars and find that the play is serious from the beginning. I assume that is because of the smaller number of entrants.

BUT... I think I have learned a lot and improved my game-play by playing in the bigger fields. If I didn't have that experience I would be less capable of playing the CC games.

(Finally)
What is a fair size for a freeroll? 500, 5,000 or 15,000?
Is it related to the prize money and how far it is split?

What is a good balance between the number of players and the number of places paid?
5 for every 100
 
orsino12

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As far as freerolls on 888 go, 5000 players isn't too bad and it's really easy to cash in them as they pay almost 35% of entrants (1758 spots paid out of 5000) and they range in prize pools from $100 to $10000. Of course min cashes are small, but for the first few levels they jump up quickly (in the $1000 a min cash is just $0.10, then $0.20, $0.40, $0.60, $0.90...) and it's generally easy to go up several levels. Like most tourneys they are top heavy but not impossible to make FT's, I've hit 4 FT's in 15 months with 1 win. It was just the $200 level 10+ but it's still a win.
The small field games have they pluses too, while harder to make the money it's easier to reach the FT for relatively decent money. I really like the CC $100 freeroll on 888, pretty tough to cash in as it just pays 10 spots with 130 to 150+ entrants lately, but the payouts are quite good if you do cash in it.
 
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omgdontcall

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Preferably like to play smaller freerolls mainly for the sole reason they go by quicker. Haven't played freerolls on a site like FT and PS since black Friday where freerolls would always be capped at 2700 or so and play for anywhere from 4-6 hrs
 
theRaven68

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Classic freeroll is a place for bringing new players and that is normal to be with a large pool
Reward freeroll is a place for a smaller pool of players who has fulfilled some requirements
 
itarus

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The club FC, it seems to me, is the optimal ratio of the number of players and prizes places - 5 : 1.
Himself a prize of $ 100 is not greatly increases the aggressiveness of the players!
*At the tournament there is a quality learning environment!
sustained good balance!
 
CylleP

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I also noticed that it's harder for poker players to play than on other poker rooms. Maybe really because of the number of people. But of course I like to play where not so many players.
 
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gunit

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Tournaments with a small number of people will not bring a big profit, but they are much easier, because you can learn the tactics of many opponents.
 
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