Bluffing in Freeroll Tournament

[ObbleeXY]

Most freerolls I've played start with low stack sizes and have quick blind level increases resulting in being chip poor quite quickly. As a result, you need to get paid to stay in. You might do this with premium made hands, marginal made hands and bluffs. But as many have said, early on, a bluff can be costly early on as you're more likely to get called down by stronger hands.

One of the problems with freerolls is that the level of player is typically lower. Lower skill tournaments have a lot of call-stations. Whilst this can be taken advantage of, noobs are just harder to bluff as they do not realise the poor equity they have in the hand so are less likely to fold.

We always need to have a fundamentally sound strategy, tuned to the specific game we are playing. MTT's do not play the same as STT. Hyper-Turbo plays differently from regular or slow games. Weekend games have more fish than weekday games.
At the end of the day, how do you bluff/semi-bluff someone who doesn't even know what a bluff is, or expects everyone to be bluffing all the time so ignores what is going on at the table?
Generally, I'd rather take a Tight Aggressive stance for such a tourney and avoid working in large bluffs against a low-skill pool. It will end up being a source of leakage for you. You can be great at extracting value from good betting and then piss it all away with a few bad bluffs. (This used to be my biggest source of leakage!)
Cheers,
ObbleeXY

 

[davidsincara]

Worth if you're deepstacked, because you'll be losing your stack when they call/push any 2

 

[bapfel]

One of the problems with freerolls is that the level of player is typically lower. Lower skill tournaments have a lot of call-stations. Whilst this can be taken advantage of, noobs are just harder to bluff as they do not realise the poor equity they have in the hand so are less likely to fold.

Alright, that`s why I play without bluffs or only one raise to try it in the first part of such tournaments to survive

Another point is, that some players actually have not much time or patience when starting a freeroll tournament, so they try do double up or leave with real often bad cards..

I try to watch such players out, when they go Allin to often.

 

[voljare1234]

I like and need to play poker in any tournament, whatever the freeroll you want..you just need to know when and how much to bluff

 

[Highsolation]

I think doesn't matter if it's freeroll or not, a bad bluff can always get caught.
But since it's freeroll, people would call more than they made a buy-in, because it's free, the worse that can happen is that they end up with 0, same they started with.
Anyhow, a good bluff requires quite a few conditions for it to work, and I guess practice is required to master the art of bluffing, be it in tournaments or not.

 

[vsawake01]

No buffing until final table. Really. Players will call with 3th pair.

 

[ObbleeXY]

I don't think I've ever made it to the final table of an MTT without skillfully pulling off a few bluffs and semi bluffs along the way. Usually when my stack is big and I can push people around.

But this isn't about *any old MTT*...it's about a Freeroll. specifically.

Or are you saying that a Freeroll is no different than any other MTT? (I'd argue that it isn't the same thing).

I think that many people playing in a freeroll are more likely to not really value the tournament because it did not have a buy-in cost. This can lead to a "losing loses nothing" approach to play, because it just doesn't matter.

I find the pokerstars $5000 Stars Reward Weekly Freerolls are like this. The first round results in a series of all-in fests as players try to grab an early chip lead that they can use to bully people. Note that bullying is not the same thing as bluffing. By the time you've survived that, you're being impacted by the blind level advances.

In any case, you should be careful about bluffing against someone you have no read on. And you usually will have less reads on large freeroll tourneys than *your chosen game* (well, I certainly hope so).

If you're not taking notes on everyone you play against you're giving chips away. It takes a while but eventually you get most of the regulars. And let me tell you. When you reach a final table and multiple people are "highlighted" as having notes written up for them, its a good feeling. Even just knowing whether a person is a LAG or a TAG or Passive Recreational player can give you an edge.

 

[Darkray]

In general, it is dangerous to play in freeroll, most likely you will be all-in with a very bad hand, I generally keep quiet about bluffing.

 

[DRIVEN]

all times i tried to bluff in freerolls finished bad for me
I do not advice you to do such thing. Better be tighter

 

[LukasynoACAB]

Bluffing is dangerous in any type of poker game, but usually i doin it well now before was much worse xd

 

[PapelonJede]

Always it's good to know who are the oponents, in the once times the players give certain about their game.
Hard players never go on!

 

[007Leon]

is very difficult you have to got specific and stricted rules

 

[RagNar87]

bluff works when the cards on the table match ure betting values . the story u tell must match the cards on the table , also u can bluff against well known players . Good luck on the tables

 

[Davey_H]

I tried that a couple of weeks ago after everyone checked the flop. Turns out someone was slow-playing with the cards I was trying to represent! Man, that was embarrassing

 

[dom97]

However could it not be considered in a freeroll to bluff your way to a larger stack, having no risk involved and then settle down when you have 100+ BB. Worse thing that happens is you loose and have lost $0. What are your thoughts on this strategy?

 

[fourroses]

yes it could ,in freeroll tournements you got ofter called ,then in normal tournements and often when you rise someone goes all in

 

[pandaboy]

I never bluff in freeroll. Because when i do it always call me with terrible hand which can beat only bluff. Whats way i never bluff again in freeroll ... Sad story.

 

[Jim_Saras]

Sometimes I bluff sometimes I don't. Depends on the mood.I think that if you see who plays tight you can choose to bluff them compared to a calling station typ of player

 

[Jim Rivas]

Can bluffing in online freeroll tournament dangerous?

In the free tournaments you don't play poker at all in the beginning, people don't open their hand, they go allin at once. They accumulate chips at once or they leave the tournament if they lose and do not spend time in a 3000 player tournament for a few tens of dollars, total is free. Bluffing in these game situations would be paid by anyone and it would not work.

 

[TerryBLE]

The danger not is the bluff, the danger is not to know when give up on him.

 

[KozakAlex]

Can bluffing in online freeroll tournament dangerous?

There is a lot of bluffing in any type of poker. The danger in freerolls is that they respond more often, because the level of players is lower. Yes, there is probably such a problem in freerolls. But on the other hand, if the card goes, then in such tournaments it is easier to collect a lot of chips to advance to a high place.

 

[kraemer]

The danger depends a lot on your table image....
Do not bluff in very early stages.
Wait until you have played some very decent hands.
If people have seen you flipping top cards a few times
after you made large bets then they will give you respect
for your bet the next times and just fold.

I also noticed that smaller bets are better for bluffing.
Don't bet too much. Many players will think you wanna
scare them out of the hand with little or nothing and call.

Much better fold rate when you make your bet look like
one that you want a caller for... If you just bet 1/3 of the pot
on the river people seem to give up ,more often than when you shove...

But maybe that is only the case in micro games.

 

[Adrianlovera]

It's not right Bluff in freeroll couse all are free Buy in, theres no cost of loose. In early stages people do crazy all ins with any hand, play any hand, call any. A semi Bluff it's more effecty it's better if you go with a back up going on

 

[Pokerpoet2]

Most of the time you find players follow the norm and if they raise pre-flop then they put in a continuation bet after the flop.
It can be annoying especially when they hit nothing but I find if I have hit a pair then it is right to call, and if they check the turn then I will be betting out to find out if my pair is as good as I think it is.
So floating a continuation bet can be profitable, It all depends on lots of variations like Position on the table, and who you are playing against, do you have a draw that is worth betting with, can you afford to call an all-in raise if you do bet.
But Bluffing in a free-roll is like bluffing in any poker game, you need to be convincing that you own that hand. If the bet is too small and he has hit something he will call. Too big and you are facing elimination from the game if he has the nuts.
I have to admit I will look at my hand before I limp into a pot and think, am I willing to call all-in with this hand if it gets raised and I will call all-in if my 3 bet raise before the flop gets shoved on, but there are some idiots out there who will shove with 7/2 against a 3 bet trying to bluff you and hit a flush or boat crippling your pocket kings etc.

IT Happens, That's Poker!

 

[DaaBee]

Can bluffing in online freeroll tournament dangerous?

Bluff, Bluff, Bluff ..... And I will eat you up. NEver do it. (Unless you have the skill)
The only time to use a bluff is All In , when you are low stack.

If you Bluff expect to get called everytime by another Bluff. You need a lot of luck and will lose more times than having a pair of 2's

Wait for a hand you can play! They happen more than a Bluff.

Most of all enjoy your poker, make it fun.