Freeroll vs low stakes

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abaraks91

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Hey everyone

As the title says Freeroll vs low stakes,
I've been playing quite a few freerolls lately and it seems like people are not playing very great hands. In your opinion/experience how much difference is there between playing a $50-$100 freeroll vs playing say a $5 buy in tournament. I would think people would play a bit tighter but if they play basically the same I might have to go to higher stakes. If this is the case, at what stakes do donkeys start to fade out???

Thanks everyone!
 
roger perkins

roger perkins

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You shouldnt change you style based on buy in amount. Having said that yes I play the freeroll a little loser. But if you look at one of the most successful CC freeroll winners you would have to say MTCashman. dont think im telling anyone something they dont know but MTC plays solid, he doesnt take a lot of chances.
 
Herkstwin

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Freerolls are just that - a chance to win cash without investing anything personally. Players go for big pots early and hope to build a big chip stack. Be patient, Strike when you have a good hand.
 
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neptun1914

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I can only talk about comparing CC freerolls to micro 0.55$ MTTs in pokerstars. Cardschat freerolls (especially the FRC only ones) generally have better players than average on the micro stakes but due to the current structure with relatively deep starting stacks and slow structure (10 minute levels) there are many players who play more tight than normal micro MTT. Micro MTTs on the other side are complex mix of all possible player types much of which do not know and do not care to learn how to play so all kind of situations are possible especially in multiway pots. Normal freerolls (not cc ones) are very similar to micro MTTs. I do not know at what level players become better but my guess is that buyin levels of at least 5$ or more will be needed for that.
 
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ph_il

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Hey everyone

As the title says Freeroll vs low stakes,
I've been playing quite a few freerolls lately and it seems like people are not playing very great hands. In your opinion/experience how much difference is there between playing a $50-$100 freeroll vs playing say a $5 buy in tournament. I would think people would play a bit tighter but if they play basically the same I might have to go to higher stakes. If this is the case, at what stakes do donkeys start to fade out???

Thanks everyone!
You're going to find bad players at every buy-in, but more so at the smaller stakes because it's much less risk than playing a $250 buy-in game.

I don't play $5 MTTs, but comparing $1 MTTs to freerolls, there isn't much difference for the most part. However, you'll see the same FR and $1 MTT regs in the later stages and FT more frequently than you'll see the bad players.

In bold: It's really silly to think you'll be able to do better at higher stakes if you can't even beat the micro-stakes MTTs. That makes absolutely no sense. I don't want to be mean, but your complaint about micro-stakes players 'not playing great hands' and you wanting to move up in higher stakes because you think they might play tighter just shows the level of skill you're at. Don't kid yourself into thinking you'll suddenly do much better if you jump to the $5+ buy-in games because you can't handle/beat bad players at the lowest level.
 
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Oxinthewater

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I guess it's just an adaptation to the playing style . It make sense that some players will go AI with almost everything in an effort to either put themselves in the driving seat or cut their losses on time. Some people won't want to invest time, so if you can get a sense of who those people are, you can exploit it.
 
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abaraks91

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You're going to find bad players at every buy-in, but more so at the smaller stakes because it's much less risk than playing a $250 buy-in game.

I don't play $5 MTTs, but comparing $1 MTTs to freerolls, there isn't much difference for the most part. However, you'll see the same FR and $1 MTT regs in the later stages and FT more frequently than you'll see the bad players.

In bold: It's really silly to think you'll be able to do better at higher stakes if you can't even beat the micro-stakes MTTs. That makes absolutely no sense. I don't want to be mean, but your complaint about micro-stakes players 'not playing great hands' and you wanting to move up in higher stakes because you think they might play tighter just shows the level of skill you're at. Don't kid yourself into thinking you'll suddenly do much better if you jump to the $5+ buy-in games because you can't handle/beat bad players at the lowest level.

I'm not complicating about bad beats, I'm merely saying that freeroll players are willing to literally play nothing. In the sense that any two cards are "good"
I've played many tournaments and had my fair share of bad beats, AA v KK AK V KQ ECT. But to lose AA vs 72 off All in Pre is merely tilting to say the least. I couldn't imagine people playing those hands in $200 buy in.


My biggest question is what stakes do they stop playing any hand and actually play real poker. $5? $10? $100?
 
Sintubai

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If it's a freeroll with a lot of players (1000+), certainly i don't expect to find many good players or hands at the table. I see some improvement in micro vs freeroll tournaments..! However, if the freerolls in question are from the CC, we have a select field & good hands!![emoji106][emoji41] GL!
 
Zvezda kz

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Hey everyone

As the title says Freeroll vs low stakes,
I've been playing quite a few freerolls lately and it seems like people are not playing very great hands. In your opinion/experience how much difference is there between playing a $50-$100 freeroll vs playing say a $5 buy in tournament. I would think people would play a bit tighter but if they play basically the same I might have to go to higher stakes. If this is the case, at what stakes do donkeys start to fade out???

Thanks everyone!


Freerolls are very different from each other to compare them with tournaments for money. If you play in our community, then they play better than average than in micro-limits. If you accept other freerolls, then playing them will give you nothing but a nervous breakdown.
In tournaments worth more than $ 4.4 $ 40% of players are already starting to think and have a minimal set of knowledge. I recommend that you play some time in these tournaments, and if you have a positive profit, you can try at higher stakes, but do not forget to study.
But I can also add that in freerolls with sufficient knowledge you can play a plus, but, of course, this is not comparable with the profit in micro and medium limits when playing at a good level. In freerolls it is very important to pay attention to the game of opponents and understand what game settings are necessary for each player) and all players combined.
And, of course, in freerolls there is a large share of luck in preflop bets, since many players play on any two cards. And any two cards always have a chance to win, because it's poker)).
 
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VivicvrMga

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Free and micro stakes basically have the same type of players
 
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valetgll

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I think that starting from $ 100 there will be a minimum number of poorly playing players. 100% will never be. Each player has his own range of money that he does not mind spending on poker.
 
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BIGAUS

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Freerolls are definitely a different beast than your standard buy in tournament. There's no personal investment of money, so players are free to play however they like, sometimes just doing whatever they can to gain a bigger stack. I think the stakes where donkeys start to fade out is hard to determine because you don't know how much they have to work with and how much money they have to part with. A $50 buy-in may be significant to one person but a drop in the bucket to another.
 
balo

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It depends what kind of freerolls you play. With 1000 players +++ expect players to go all-in every hand to get lucky .

But CC freerolls on Stars are not much different than low buy-ins up to $5, I prefer smaller fields up to 500 players.
 
Psyanide14

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Freerolls are definitely the loosest, especially if they are turbo. Players just go all in and hope to get lucky. Any two cards can win any hand and since it’s free they want to either build a big stack or bust quickly.

I play mostly these and $1 micro tournaments. There is a small bit of difference but still find a lot of players call with anything, which is a blessing and a curse. You often have the best hand but since this occurs so frequently, you will lose quite often as well. It can be frustrating experience but should be profitable in the long run.
 
mt2lhd

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Hey everyone

As the title says Freeroll vs low stakes,
I've been playing quite a few freerolls lately and it seems like people are not playing very great hands. In your opinion/experience how much difference is there between playing a $50-$100 freeroll vs playing say a $5 buy in tournament. I would think people would play a bit tighter but if they play basically the same I might have to go to higher stakes. If this is the case, at what stakes do donkeys start to fade out???

Thanks everyone!


Let's compare it this way: in $5 tournament you you'll see 10 goofy play every 100 hand, in freeroll you see 50 goofy play every 100 hand
 
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abaraks91

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Thank you everyone who replied, CC is a great environment to learn and meet great people!

Best of luck everyone
 
veltins

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Its called freeroll for some reason.. some just go with any hand allin while if you see even 10c buyins it changes their way of play.. that's how its
 
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blix177

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Free Roll, you going to have players that are insane, manics, or just simply AFK.

$5 buy in you have less of those.

Reason, if I am joining it for free, I might just do so for entertainment. I have 0 vested in it and I will go to sleep in the middle of the tournament and not come back. I actually done that before. Some freerolls are 5000-10000 player deep, you are talking about 12-13 hours to get to the final table.
 
10gerka

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always in the freeroll and low stakes you will find these players, dog as you advance levels you will realize that your game you have to change it, people already study a lot of poker, but calm if you play freeroll try not to lose your game before these situations and try to bank to play high levels
 
bkniefel

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I think I understand where you are getting at. It does sometimes feel like players in freerolls are the same as ones in small limit MTT's . The reason is obvious with the limits but obviously people care more about the money they are throwing up. Even then, the amount is slim and depending on their stack, it may be dust to them and their bankroll. What makes them the most similar in my opinion is the all in's and the tilts that I have witnessed. Other than that, it seems basic poker level.
 
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natelearnspoker

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I’ve played at both stakes. I find the playing styles fairly similar across both. At micro stakes, people are a bit more cautious because there’s money involved. At the same time, all players are relatively impulsive (as one of these players myself lol) and are easily exploited.

With free rolls, you need a lot of patience because tournaments often last for 5+ hours. I get bored after 2-3 and often blow my lead after one or two bad calls.
 
antonis32123

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In a freeroll people play more loose , noooo , my mistake ... extremely looseand crazy even sometimes , cause they don't have anything to lose , not even their time invested on this game , if they play other buy-in games or freerolls at the same time . But in a real bui in event of $0.5-$5 they play less loose . But still , on these buyin levels , give them odds close enough to what they think appropriate to call , even with 50% of their stack oop , they will call , do not underestimate the looseness of the micros players , you will pay the price/consequences then , especially very deep ITM ....
 
Alekxandrovi3

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There are always weak and strong players. Tournament bins divide only a small part of the players into strong and weak. Often people who have the opportunity to play only large buyins prefer to play on them. The same people play on high buyins. It's just that most of them have such an opportunity. In this world, everything is relative. Sometimes I managed to win satellites for tournaments up to $ 215. Anyone who played them knows very well that there are also a bunch of chips that do not understand what they are doing. Probably because for them that kind of money is not big to make themselves think. And for me it is a very big buy-in.
 
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bempassado

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You shouldnt change you style based on buy in amount. Having said that yes I play the freeroll a little loser. But if you look at one of the most successful CC freeroll winners you would have to say MTCashman. dont think im telling anyone something they dont know but MTC plays solid, he doesnt take a lot of chances.


Great tip, i don't know who is this cashman. Is he a winner poker player ?
 
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