Are Freerolls tougher than Real Money Tourneys?

[mara2259]

freerolls are very hard to play because people don’t invest anything and don’t risk anything. I am on the button with AKs opponents from middle position goes all-in and shows 72o. After 7 on the river for me the tournament ended. But I don’t complain because I play freerolls myself and I don’t draw from other fish.

 

[1k95]

It depends on what freerolls, for example, our forum freeroll is not so difficult up to 200 people play and all are adequate, another thing is 5 thousand participants and prize money $ 5

 

[cranberry]

I think it is easier to play freerolls - here a person does not invest anything and nothing to lose. In real money tournaments there will be a battle for every cent.

 

[Joco413]

All in plays are a lot more frequent than in real money games that's for sure. So you have to be really lucky to win freerolls.

 

[angelamsmith05]

I think that freerolls are tougher than real money tourneys the higher stakes buy in you play the more cautious most people will play

Totally agree. I think people are more cautious with their own money.

 

[Mc_Terp]

I would say in my experience definitely no. The freerolls are high variance but pretty easy to play. Also the lower the stakes the easier the game, but its a much more straight forward game. Where as the higher stakes has more aggression and bluffing.

 

[Bozovicdj]

I play a lot of freerolls on Black Chip, occasionally on Intertops and Sports Betting when they have them. It seems like the variance in these freerolls are waaay high than real money tourneys since there's a lot more players (many who are bad and/or straight up have no idea how to even play) and no real money on the line making people act crazy in them.

I feel like these variables make it tougher for an above average player who knows what they're doing to come out on top. Maybe not high stakes but micro and mid stakes tourneys are easier for above average players imo.

Your question is whether freerolls are tougher or not then buy in MTTs and the answer is NO, they are not.
It is the most standard abc poker that you need to be able to usually get to the money. However, the variance is indeed quite higher then in buy in MTTs, but the play itself is far easier.
As an example: there are these 5000$ freerolls on PS (turbo tournaments), if you play for money, sometimes those chest that we open give you a ticket. Today I played it for the first time (who knows how many times my tickets expired before), and I was surprised at how easy the tournament was. It was indeed a standard shove mania just like in any freeroll. The only thing I did was tighten up, didn't play anything fancy, just standard poker, and it got me all the way to 200th place out of 25000 players total.
Therefore, to play in freerolls is very easy, standard poker, tighten your range, make 30-50% pot sized c-bets, re-raise only when you have something strong on the flop, call with draws if u must but do not re-raise all to preserve chips...
The bad players will always find a "reason" to call you with weaker holdings.

As oppose to all that, in regular tournaments players are generally mindful of the game, paying attention to details, table behavior, hand history which makes it harder to play. That means, you need to make good quality decisions, you will be in tough spots more often then in freerolls etc.

To sum it up:
The gameplay in freerolls is easier in terms of opponents skills and decision making, but it is harder to actually get in the money in freerolls, because of the varience..

 

[sheltowee420]

I find freerolls to be a mixture of good players and fish. So, if I pay attention well enough, then I know to get out of they way for the good players and wait for the fish to give me a bunch of free chips.

 

[MemphisGrind]

Na.. buy in tournaments are def. more difficult.

 

[FernA9ndo]

It is a lot different, different people playing.

 

[neverbluff]

Freerolls are tough in the sense that you have a lot of players that are playing for fun. This means that it is much harder to know what to expect from them. When you get into real money tournaments, you're able to get a much more general idea of how your opponent is playing because it is closer to optimal.

 

[GordyPoker]

Easy answer - Yes - as there are more runners to minefield through

 

[sibird]

I play a lot of freerolls on Black Chip, occasionally on Intertops and Sports Betting when they have them. It seems like the variance in these freerolls are waaay high than real money tourneys since there's a lot more players (many who are bad and/or straight up have no idea how to even play) and no real money on the line making people act crazy in them.

I feel like these variables make it tougher for an above average player who knows what they're doing to come out on top. Maybe not high stakes but micro and mid stakes tourneys are easier for above average players imo.

Freerolls attract different types of player, who join the tournament with different motives. Beginners come to learn, without risking anything. Matured players join to explore and experiment with their range of play and other strategies. Building a bankroll is another good reason for many players.

With so many conflicts in play and so many diverse approaches to the game, it is not an easy job to reach at the top until and unless you know how to proceed in such conditions.

Yes, variance in these freerolls is much higher as compared to real buy-in tournaments. It is expected because some of the players attending freerolls don’t even bother to chase the prize pool. They have other objectives.

 

[Debi]

Easy answer for you - buy-ins are definitely tougher and the higher the buy-in the tougher they are.

 

[FerC182]

I play a lot of freerolls on Black Chip, occasionally on Intertops and Sports Betting when they have them. It seems like the variance in these freerolls are waaay high than real money tourneys since there's a lot more players (many who are bad and/or straight up have no idea how to even play) and no real money on the line making people act crazy in them.

I feel like these variables make it tougher for an above average player who knows what they're doing to come out on top. Maybe not high stakes but micro and mid stakes tourneys are easier for above average players imo.

I agree with you, I play a lot of freerolls because I do not have the courage to make deposits, because I have already deposited the account, so I have only to play the freerolls. the game in a paid tournament is very different because the players know what they want and the freerolls are very amateur and that most of the time they are only to play or pass the time so you end up losing with a good hand for very bad cards of the adversary .

 

[RiverLord90]

I do not think freerolls are more difficult than other tournaments, what makes it difficult is those players who love to bet everything with nothing, but even a paid tournament is always more difficult there is a little more seriousness in the game, try to read the opponents to know how to play them I think it's more complicated, get itm in a freeroll can be even easier than a tournament paid that if you add the long records late and you'll also find players who play freeroll mode

The more freerolls I have been playing the more I see the difference between toughness and variance. I notice the freerolls only get tough when you're ITM or the FT once all the weak bad players are gone. But that variance in freerolls definitely adds a degree of difficulty. I'm starting to get ITM in a lot of freerolls almost daily so I think you're right.

 

[RiverLord90]

Real $$ is much tougher.

I agree.

 

[RiverLord90]

I think that freerolls are easier than money mtts, because you can play more freely, and you can do things that you would think more in a money game.

This is true. I definitely take chances that I normally wouldn't take in real $ tourneys and end up winning big.

 

[RiverLord90]

I think they are considerably harder to do well in.
Not that doing well in a buy in is easy.
I don't really do well in either but I'm practicing trying to improve.

Keep practicing and playing in them, you will improve. Also study, watch videos and review your plays and try to figure out what you did wrong (if anything) when you lose and see if there was anything you could have done otherwise to prevent such a loss. Freerolls are great for practicing and warming up before real $ tourneys. I'm starting to get ITM and to the FT almost daily in freerolls now so keep working at it!

 

[RiverLord90]

Freerolls are very hard to play because people don’t invest anything and don’t risk anything. I am on the button with AKs opponents from middle position goes all-in and shows 72o. After 7 on the river for me the tournament ended. But I don’t complain because I play freerolls myself and I don’t draw from other fish.

Yeah the variance definitely adds to the degree of difficulty. I got knocked out of the FT in a freeroll by someone with a 52o vs my KJs. Flop was QQQ, I raised then he re-raised me. Then the turn was a 2 giving him the fullhouse It's so fustrating because you know that wouldn't happen in a real $ by any sane person. Maybe I should have shoved preflop, Idk. I don't mind losing freerolls neither since I didn't invest anything and usually get ITM once or twice a day I can't complain.

 

[RiverLord90]

It depends on what freerolls, for example, our forum freeroll is not so difficult up to 200 people play and all are adequate, another thing is 5 thousand participants and prize money $ 5

Most definitely. I love the CC freerolls, so much better than the normal ones. I feel like they are closer to legitimate tourneys than actually freerolls. So when I play micro or low stakes mtts, I will have the CC experience to go with instead of regular freerolls.

 

[RiverLord90]

I think it is easier to play freerolls - here a person does not invest anything and nothing to lose. In real money tournaments there will be a battle for every cent.

Freerolls are softer with higher variance, real $ are tougher with lower variance. I've noticed playing TAG ABC poker usually yields great results in freerolls, I don't know how that will translate over to real $ tourneys.

 

[RiverLord90]

All in plays are a lot more frequent than in real money games that's for sure. So you have to be really lucky to win freerolls.

Luck is a factor for sure, but I see that with all tourneys. Playing smart TAG ABC poker usually helps when you can double, triple or quad up early on against donks shoving all in every hand. So sometimes it's a good thing.

 

[RiverLord90]

I would say in my experience definitely no. The freerolls are high variance but pretty easy to play. Also the lower the stakes the easier the game, but its a much more straight forward game. Where as the higher stakes has more aggression and bluffing.

I definitely agree. Freerolls are easy if you can make it out of the early donk shove fests. Now I know I just had to adjust my game in freerolls to nitty TAG ABC poker; bluffing is absolutely ineffective against fish in early stage freerolls and only lowers your stack. That's why I made this thread because some veterans moves don't work well against fish newbies since they can't register everything that is going on and call everything. The CC freerolls are different, they feel more like real $ tourneys which is why I love playing in them.

 

[RiverLord90]

Your question is whether freerolls are tougher or not then buy in MTTs and the answer is NO, they are not.
It is the most standard abc poker that you need to be able to usually get to the money. However, the variance is indeed quite higher then in buy in MTTs, but the play itself is far easier.
As an example: there are these 5000$ freerolls on PS (turbo tournaments), if you play for money, sometimes those chest that we open give you a ticket. Today I played it for the first time (who knows how many times my tickets expired before), and I was surprised at how easy the tournament was. It was indeed a standard shove mania just like in any freeroll. The only thing I did was tighten up, didn't play anything fancy, just standard poker, and it got me all the way to 200th place out of 25000 players total.
Therefore, to play in freerolls is very easy, standard poker, tighten your range, make 30-50% pot sized c-bets, re-raise only when you have something strong on the flop, call with draws if u must but do not re-raise all to preserve chips...
The bad players will always find a "reason" to call you with weaker holdings.

As oppose to all that, in regular tournaments players are generally mindful of the game, paying attention to details, table behavior, hand history which makes it harder to play. That means, you need to make good quality decisions, you will be in tough spots more often then in freerolls etc.

To sum it up:
The gameplay in freerolls is easier in terms of opponents skills and decision making, but it is harder to actually get in the money in freerolls, because of the varience..

I realize this now. I made this thread because it seemed like veteran plays such as bluffing or pot stealing are completely ineffective against fish noobs. They are either calling stations or donk shove everything which makes it almost impossible to get a read on them. So I adjusted my game to nitty TAG ABC poker and started getting ITM almost daily. I feel like the CC freerolls have better more serious players which makes it more fun since I'm playing against good opponents.

Any reason for those cbets in particular? I usually make about 65%-75% pot sized cbets, should I only do that be for real $ tourneys or make the 30%-50% pot sized cbets too?

Those $5k freerolls on PS sound amazing btw. It sucks that we US players can't participate.