How to best begin a freeroll

[bellicoso]

This is in regard to small-stacked freerolls; 2k chips or less with 15/30 blinds to start.
My default style is aggressive and it works well provided I can build a stack. However, I have to risk a lot early on and if I miss the flop a few times I'm pretty much out before the tournament even begins.

I'm wondering if it's consistently better to open with tight/conservative play and then switch to my usual style... I have yet to try the following, but will give it a shot this evening:

1. I will avoid any pre-flop all-in confrontations without AA, KK, QQ or AK suited.
2. I will not be the first shove all-in, period.
3. I will not call any raise above a three-bet without the aforementioned hands.
4. I will not open with more than a three-bet.
5. I will fold/check if I miss on the flop.

I'll have to test this out and see if it helps me build stronger and more consistently than if I just come out swinging for the fence.

I'm very interested in reading any crits/comments and any advice on how to best begin these kinds of tournaments.

 

[ChickenArise]

Usually in these people are fireing loose early on, so I try to pick them off or squeeze with any Ace or high pairs and I risk all of my chips. You dont have much emotion invested at this point so if I lose, no biggie. You cant overthink these in the early going. The goal is to get the chips of the people firing with the weak hands while its happening.

The low pairs wont do well if the hand goes multiway so I am mucking these if I cant limp and set mine.

I lose more than I win this way but every once in a while you get a few double and triple ups. I dont have a high expectation to win these and that sure helps me play this way.

When I get between 14k to 20k in chips I tighten up and switch to my usual game which is tighter and requires better hands.

There is nothing wrong with betting an Ace Jack all in. Its just calling an all in with it that I dont like. Although at final tables I see that it is done.

 

[bellicoso]

Usually in these people are fireing loose early on, so I try to pick them off with the Ace mid hands or high pairs and I risk all of my chips. You dont have much emotion invested at this point so if I lose, no biggie.

The low pairs wont do well if the hand goes multiway so I am mucking these if I cant limp and set mine.

I lose more than I win this way but every once in a while you get a few double and triple ups. When I get between 14k to 20k in chips I tighten up and switch to my usual game.

My approach so far has been very much the same; risk a lot early and hope you catch something, including calling a lot of all-in shoves pre-flop. I'd like to try to find a way to get through this, however. I know they're just freerolls, but I'd still like to make it consistently far into each game I play.

 

[bellicoso]

I'm in two $10 On-demand freerolls on ACR at the moment and it's definitely easy to last following these rules. However, I have yet to make a really big play and I've been on for over an hour on the first game... will follow up later.

 

[bellicoso]

To follow up, on that first $10 freeroll I ended up placing 24th. That's pretty good.

I bet aggressively when I had 30+ BB and tightened up when I had less. At any given point, I never deviated from my hand range regardless if I was betting aggressively or not.

I'm still going to keep testing this process out, but I would love to hear from you all. Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

 

[takinitSLEAZEE]

I love how players try to come up w/a strategy to win freerolls. Unless it's one of those fr-trny's that actually pay; for example a depositor or some kind of holiday themed trny w/a payout of $500 or better then I wouldn't sweat it. Go 4 broke, man. I was in a $25 fr an hour ago and after flopping top pair was rivered by a 2-outer (AK v 99). It happened on my first hand of the game, too. I do keep in mind that folx do not usually play their best in freerolls (including myself) so they're mostly going to play anything that's suited or wired in the first hour, so it seems harder to put them on a hand pre-flop. Even when the trny's been going for a while the remaining players are still in it for free. No real investment has been made except for the time they've spent playing. But hey freeroll money is still money, right? That's what we tell ourselves, anyway. Good luck, man.

 

[bidearm]

I find playing conservative at the start suits me better

 

[bellicoso]

I just made it ITM on a $250 freeroll. Didn't win much as I was at the bottom, but it seems to be working out a little better for now. I still need to play more games to know for sure...

 

[cleder7]

I think its very good strategy, I believe it works well inside the freerolls, in the final tables already can change the style of game, because the players were selected.

 

[bellicoso]

At this point, I've played over a dozen freerolls with this opening strategy and I think it's the way to go. I'm lasting longer and making it to my stack-goals more often than before. Also, it works well with my hand range where I can still bet/raise with my preferred hole cards and get good information from my opponents, so I'm not really sacrificing too much of my aggression.

Mainly, it's avoiding super-aggression when I think about it. I'm not having to risk 100% of my chips as often as I was, I'm just moving on to the next hand unless I've got one of my big four. Then, once I'm stacked, I can raise the limits that I'm willing to call, again with my preferred cards.

I would really like to know if anyone else has tried this or a similar strategy, and what the results have been. It could be that I'm just getting lucky right now.

 

[eRaS55]

Mostly conservative... I will fold most hands. Raise Good hands like AK AQ and AJ but never shove all in, althugh I would call a re raise at this point... limp with A10... Any raises before me I will only call with AA KK QQ JJ and sometimes AK and AQ depending on my position.... This has been working consistently well for me in freeroll and micro stakes

 

[Newzooozooo]

Hi.
I believe that aggressive style in the early stages usually leads to losses. In my opinion it is always better to wait for strong cards and play using the position. In this case you will have more chance to go to the prize place.
Good luck.

 

[scolopin77]

Depends

I would say that the first hand or so are a bit hard because there are the bingo players in each tournament. So if you raise someone might go all in.

 

[Zjohnson13]

My experience with Freerolls is that in the early stages everyone is loose. Even with top pair, I don't expect to go all in early if more than one person commits their chips - too great a chance one of the fish will hit his flush or straight and beat my top pair. My goal is with my good hands in position at least get to the flop. At this point I have more information to play with.

I start to loosen up as the ante's kick in as most of the crazy all in's have already exited and people have invested a fair amount of time at this point. I find people tighten up just a bit.

Using this strategy I often can get pretty deep into the freeroll, until I forget all of my principals and self-destruct. Although, I did place 5th in a $10 dollar freeroll this morning.

 

[fadisn]

Dont know if I can advice here as I am not a freeroll daily winner, but my feeling is that if you leave it like 10-15 min from beginning you get off from all in rushes, so more logic applies then

 

[Zjohnson13]

Dont know if I can advice here as I am not a freeroll daily winner, but my feeling is that if you leave it like 10-15 min from beginning you get off from all in rushes, so more logic applies then

You can miss a lot of the rush with this strategy but it still persists until the ante's start to increases.

 

[lokinet]

I think it is a good strategy to follow.
At the start i try alway to play realy tight beacause goes all in with nothing. I have sometime the problem to find the right moment to loosen up my game

good luck

 

[ChiTownRon]

Lot of good tips in here so far. Gotta adjust to the players at the table , but most part everyone usually plays really loose . The all in's get pretty ridiculous.

 

[eRaS55]

I think it is a good strategy to follow.
At the start i try alway to play realy tight beacause goes all in with nothing. I have sometime the problem to find the right moment to loosen up my game

good luck

Most times in freerolls once registration closes, you can start to adjust your game. There will be a few late buy ins with super short stacks. They will all in or nothing and this is something you wanna be weary of... but also use to your advantage when youve got the right hand ... Once the dust settles ur free to play to ur best

Worthwhile noting at any point in the game... if your current table is tight... its normally okay to get into it a little

 

[TheDude6622]

If I'm doing the 10 dollar freeroll on ACR, I shove first hand no matter what. It just doesn't matter what you have on that. If it's a higher guarantee, play more premium.

 

[jbear54321]

This is in regard to small-stacked freerolls; 2k chips or less with 15/30 blinds to start.
My default style is aggressive and it works well provided I can build a stack. However, I have to risk a lot early on and if I miss the flop a few times I'm pretty much out before the tournament even begins.

I'm wondering if it's consistently better to open with tight/conservative play and then switch to my usual style... I have yet to try the following, but will give it a shot this evening:

1. I will avoid any pre-flop all-in confrontations without AA, KK, QQ or AK suited.
2. I will not be the first shove all-in, period.
3. I will not call any raise above a three-bet without the aforementioned hands.
4. I will not open with more than a three-bet.
5. I will fold/check if I miss on the flop.

I'll have to test this out and see if it helps me build stronger and more consistently than if I just come out swinging for the fence.


I'm very interested in reading any crits/comments and any advice on how to best begin these kinds of tournaments.

I try to start off tight and catch over aggressive people when I have a good hand. Also, I've learned that unless you're willing to go all in pre flop, then it's best to fold. Almost every hand someone over raises and gets people all in.

 

[NBDG8477]

for me freerolls you just have to play A/B/C poker as in just the basics of poker and play your strong hands aggressive with very few bluffs if any atleast until later stages of the tournament then maybe when your stack is a bit bigger you can adjust anyway good luck pal .

 

[Ovuvuevuevue]

Shove TT+ and two pair or better and you're golden

 

[Gaviria8]

Tight is right for Freerolls

 

[omer10068]

All in almost allways Until I grab something, then play more relaxed