Freerolls are turning me into a bad poker player

[Pickat]

Yes $10 freerolls will do that to you . But even those I find that if I can stay calm and play my game I do fairly well but it is hard to cash in one of those . You are eligible to play in Sat. and Sun. CC freerolls even if you aren't a freeroll club member yet . They are very nice tournaments , small fields and sensible players . GL hope to see you there .

 

[BuckeyeDon]

Don't go to the Dark Side

Stay strong to your poker discipline. If you can play solidly with no money from your pocket on the line, you'll do better when it is.

The one time I will get frisky is the first good hand I am dealt. I do like to double up right away, then tighten down the screws on my opening hands (at least until the antes show up).

 

[ZenGreen]

I keep trying to use freerolls to adjust to different type players since they are all over the board. but I agree Im about to just deposit and play something worthwhile. It starting to make me develope a few bad habits such as limping behind knowing no one will fold to any raise instead of just sticking to plans of playing hands I should be raising. then you get used to trapping these type players, you find that you lose some of the sharpness you had vs better players and now they are exploiting your new bad habits

 

[AdiS18]

I know what you feel but for me its a extreme sport. For me winning Crazy PPL , Donkeys it is food for the soul and makes me stronger. I think you are perfecting your strategy much better!

 

[Joey199250]

I play freerolls tight. Let all the crazy people eleminate each other. I only play very good hand like high pair or AK. I try to read the players and watch what moves they make with what hands. And one of my top rules. Don't try to bluf to much. Because some players call with any hand.

 

[Perceval]

Freerolls are very difficult, some players play without strategy or brain.
Play very thight but it isnt a guarantee of success.

 

[Badbunny]

The best thing to do is not play like it a loser because it would deposit your freerolls.Si rather it will take you more seriously. That is a change that I'm using right now and it 's going very well.
Believe me when I tell you of the freerolls will learn a lot, to be patient , for example, which is a vital attitude to play poker.
Greetings and good luck at the tables.

 

[freddy66]

ok ill share.....

talking about aq are we?just read Doyle Brunson book,he estimates he has lost in cash games since 59,9-20 million on aq suited and aq off,he dont know exactly how much as he says he lost track in the 80s,lol..........that should tell ya all you need to know about aq!as far as freerolls making you play bad,well you only play bad if you allow yourself to,youll have many bad beats in freerolls for sure,but you HAVE to play your game!try each and every tourny to eliminate your mistakes,write them down if you have to so you dont make that same mistake again!play POSITION in freerolls and cut your mistakes down,trust me if you make the right decisions play position and the math will catch up!and if you dont know what i mean by POSITION or math,thats where you need to study the most for now!good luck on the felts baby!

 

[ammje]

Not all freerolls have a bad level, there are some that have a good level, of poker, for example the cardschat freerolls.
The good thing about freerolls is that you do not have to invest money, if there are many bad players, you have to take it seriously.
At the beginning of a free it does not have a lot of level, but with form go forward there will be better players and the level will increase.

 

[Tylor Mendez]

Play your A-game always, although I can understand wanting to capitalize on people playing extremely crappy cards, so you can benefit by opening up a little.

But if its not working, maybe try tightening up

 

[Dora]

My game break made me a bad player.

 

[deiwizzz]

Freerolls made me a bad player also. I started to play very often with suited cards like K6 etc. I lose patience too oftend in result i get out of tourney too quick

 

[Grearix]

When your money is not involved people play very loose aggressive in the beginning in freerolls, but if you don't play loose at the start and you make it to the money, it starts to be an interesting play. Not less than real money tournaments in my opinion.

 

[deiwizzz]

But its really hard to deal with all those fish players especially when they catch top hand on river almost every hand. Very frustrating, makes me want tonplay with crappy cards also..

 

[imnoobpoker]

You don't have to play loose just because it's a freeroll. Once you become a member of the freeroll club and have access to the freeroll passwords, try to follow MTCashman or MTCash for a tournament or two, just find the table he is sitting at and watch his play. He is very patient and plays a short stack until the very late stages of the tournaments, and he is the leader of the leaderboard. I am not saying that you have to adopt his strategy, just that it could be helpful to be aware of the possibility. Anyway, a good poker player needs to be able to adapt his strategy to the format he's playing, so one should not play real money tournaments using freeroll strategy or vice versa.

Totally agree!
However, it really depends on the freerolls format. Cc has nice freerolls, because the blind times are normal. However, 888poker freerolls are hyper tournaments. Where patience and move-ins are a strategy.

 

[deiwizzz]

Totally agree!
However, it really depends on the freerolls format. Cc has nice freerolls, because the blind times are normal. However, 888poker freerolls are hyper tournaments. Where patience and move-ins are a strategy.

I believe, since this forum is full of good players i guess but still its really hard to reach the requirements to join the freeroll club..

 

[radartodd69]

You just have to make the mental adjustment that you are playing a freeroll or a real money tournament. People will obviously play different in the 2 types of tournaments. No law against playing tight in a freeroll either.

 

[TheShek]

This is a feeling I've been having too.

All the limped pots and speculative hands that can be played in a free roll will have to be cut out and played differently when moving up.

All the strong hands but marginal hands (KTs, KJs, KQs, ATs etc) I would normally raise with I often have to limp with in a multiway pot because calling will just build a big pot and my opponents are never folding anything.

I've been eating sh!t a lot lately because I've been adjusting my calling range when there are crazy players at the table. I don't think this is incorrect either. It introduces much more variance which is frustrating, but I think it's right. Yesterday for example a guy was played a VPIP/PFR of 90/85 and just moving in almost every hand. I had AJo and he shoved under the gun for 50BB. I called, he showed T4o and hit a 4 and I was out. But I think it's right to adjust your calling range and take a stand against crazy opposition. You will be a favourite to take their stack before someone else does, then you'll have a big stack to play a more normal brand of poker when the crazy villain is KO'd. It does mean you'll be knocked out more often though, so either adjust your calling range and live with the results, or play tighter, give up the spots for huge double and triple ups and wait for better spots. Even if you do, though, you'll be knocked out of free rolls more often than other tournaments purely because of the nature of the players.

 

[Lheticus]

I agree with what a few other people have said here. Invitational or private freerolls like CardsChat's and your bog-standard freerolls are entirely different beasts. And if you want to test yourself against skilled opponents, I recommend looking into the CardsChat League. I only played in it I think twice and I was able to markedly improve my game based on my experiences there. Might try it again soon myself actually, since I've just returned from a quite long time of not trying to play poker seriously.

 

[valanddon]

I mostly play in freerolls and have won a bit of cash,
but you have to play tight because they go all in on
any thing, but even AAS get cracked. When you learn
how to read hands or players you will do well.
Good Luck!