How to survive the early stages of a microlimit or freeroll tournament?

[YogSothoth]

I invite all those who want to participate to make a kind of "manual" to survive the early stages of a microlimit or freeroll tournament. The idea is that everyone contributes their knowledge and we also discuss the ideas.

1- The first idea that comes to mind is not to play all-in with flip coins. If you win you will double your stack, which at the beginning of the tournament does not mean much. If you lose, you are dead.

2-The second thing that seems important to me is: it may seem that the rest of your table stacks many chips playing all kinds of hands, but in the long run they lose them in the same way. Patience and patience, wait for the good cards that will arrive sooner or later.

Well, I think it's fine with those two ideas to start. I am willing to discuss them with those who disagree,(you can always learn something new)

Finally, I invite you again to contribute your knowledge and experiences

I say maintain a bankroll that can withstand the variance involved with +EV flips, even in the beginning stages of the tournaments. I call with AA, KK, QQ, AK, AQ - but in the early stages if I'm three-handed or more I'll fold AK and AQ. I do understand what you mean by doubling up amounting to far less early on than it does later, but I still consider it an important aspect of building that massive stack you need by the time you reach the final table. You'll suck out occasionally to junk pocket pairs and sets, and obviously you'll place more often ITM if you play tighter than above, but I can't imagine myself ever getting near the final table folding premium hands to flips early on.

Also, and I'm probably gonna get blasted for this, I feel a lot of the players I find in micro-stakes tournaments don't pay attention. Because of this I don't conceal too much with my bet sizes. 3BB for premium hands, 2.5BB for marginal hands and min raises for low suited connectors + suited one-gappers (though position matters whether they're paying attention or not).

I would never play like this live, or in cash games, where generally I keep my FIR bet size to 2.5BB, but I swear in these online micro-stakes tournaments people are so focused on hitting their cards that they don't pay attention to how you're playing yours.

 

[pontvadasz]

I play more aggressively in the freeroll and I call all in first. The prizes are mostly better in the final table only, it is not worth 3-4 hours to sit for 2-3 cents.

 

[kringoo]

You will need extreme patience at the beginning of the tournament to wait for the best hands and play in possession so that you can better explore the opportunities that will naturally arise during the game.

 

[pokersextreme]

Watch your opponents range play tight and do not limp.

 

[pokersextreme]

Play tight, but note the maniacs. If he has gone all in six of the last six hands, call his all in with your A2.

This is a prime example of what not to do because it does not mean that he is weak or will be weak every hand. Weak A's tend to put you in bad situations where you lose chips more often than you'll make.

 

[pokersextreme]

I think most of things is already said. I don't risk my early tournament by going all in with draws or if I think I'm in a coin flip. But it's true I tend to go with worse hands, like suited connecteurs, even if it's 45. If the bet is too high, however, I prefer to fold. Maybe the worst is when you pay a bet and the next player goes all in or 3-bet more than you could pay.

This is where position comes in play because it's less likely for opponents to raise you without a better hand. So if your hand is weak or marginal then play close to the button. Most of the time you play out of position with weak hands you'll be giving away your chips for free.

 

[chalghaf]

I invite all those who want to participate to make a kind of "manual" to survive the early stages of a microlimit or freeroll tournament. The idea is that everyone contributes their knowledge and we also discuss the ideas.

1- The first idea that comes to mind is not to play all-in with flip coins. If you win you will double your stack, which at the beginning of the tournament does not mean much. If you lose, you are dead.

2-The second thing that seems important to me is: it may seem that the rest of your table stacks many chips playing all kinds of hands, but in the long run they lose them in the same way. Patience and patience, wait for the good cards that will arrive sooner or later.

Well, I think it's fine with those two ideas to start. I am willing to discuss them with those who disagree,(you can always learn something new)

Finally, I invite you again to contribute your knowledge and experiences

i think the most important thing when playing micro or freerolls is patience , it goes a long way in the long run , since these freerolls are stacked with different kind of players , you need to play your game the best you could and hope for the best hah
best of luck to everyone out there !

 

[kidpiko]

eURTito

 

[demesquita]

I just go extremelly tight until mid-game. I may or may not have won a few pots here and there and that will give me something to play with at mid and late game with a bit more efficiency.

 

[GRIN281289]

I completely agree with your first point, this is the most important

 

[natelearnspoker]

Play extremely tight unless you’re sitting to the left of a maniac who jams everything. I often just wait until I’m on the BB and call when the SB snap jams his/her 73o.

 

[el_soma77]

the best way to survive in a tournament is to play tight, play passively with good cards, strong cards, make good decisions, create a good image at the table, try to call with strong hands, play passively, in your moment, depending on the strength of the hand and playing in a concrete and rook way.

'Poker is like roulette, you must know how to bet at the right time'

 

[nuttea]

I invite all those who want to participate to make a kind of "manual" to survive the early stages of a microlimit or freeroll tournament. The idea is that everyone contributes their knowledge and we also discuss the ideas.

1- The first idea that comes to mind is not to play all-in with flip coins. If you win you will double your stack, which at the beginning of the tournament does not mean much. If you lose, you are dead.

2-The second thing that seems important to me is: it may seem that the rest of your table stacks many chips playing all kinds of hands, but in the long run they lose them in the same way. Patience and patience, wait for the good cards that will arrive sooner or later.

Well, I think it's fine with those two ideas to start. I am willing to discuss them with those who disagree,(you can always learn something new)

Finally, I invite you again to contribute your knowledge and experiences

Many of us allow ourselves to play a large number of hands at an early stage, explaining this by the fact that we have enough big blinds in our stack. It must be remembered that the play in the early stages determines our future fate in the tournament, just as the constant folding in every hand can put us in the conditions of a short stack. I still recommend playing tighter, lowering your starting hand range and waiting for a strong hand.
Many great poker masters advise to show a tight style of poker at an early stage, starting from the fact that at the beginning of the tournament there are a lot of weak players whose actions are unpredictable, but still modern online poker, with its faster and more dynamic play, with a tight style games can leave us far behind. Be very careful about playing the big blind: for example, if someone is trying to steal your blinds, you should not defend with his middle hand, much less bluff. But in the later stages, when you try to steal, after waiting for a good hand, you can cause a lot of trouble for an opponent who is used to your pass to the BB.

 

[Hemified]

People go crazy in freerolls so its a different breed to try to beat. Players all in with nothing and get lucky so its difficult to control. Best thing is to grind away and maybe play crazy and you might do better. Good luck.

 

[LFC_yllnwa]

The early stage of the tournament is great for playing more hands to expand your range of play. This will allow you to increase the pot for a further tournament. If you sit and wait for a very good hand to play, you will be "offended" by players who expand the range and have more opportunities to play than you.

In order not to be dead , you should not play like a fool, go into the game constantly with a bad card, make stupid bets when you have nothing. And most importantly! You should not go all in, with any pictures, 80-90% of players like to do it..

I think it doesn't matter what tournament you play, microlimits or a big expensive tournament with crazy rewards. You have to have a strategy, your tactics for the tournament, constantly keep your course on it. Tournaments take a very long time, and at any stage of the tournament, you will have more than one chance to improve your bank and go high, but do not forget, evaluate your opponents and not forgetting that there is a fold button, it is always better to press it in vain, but save your bank and get another chance, than not to press and regret for a very long time about a stupid game at the table.

 

[Bigslow11]

I agree with the idea of trying to grind it out. The low/no stakes tournament will have plenty of maniacs that are willing to shove on a whim, so getting paid for your premium hands is likely. Every time you play a hand in a tournament like this you have to consider that you will more than likely be asked to play for all of your chips early on. Play strong hands and trust the odds, eventually they will begin to lean for sound strategy.

 

[LitPavel]

patient and waiting for a good card ...

Very bad strategy...

 

[seadoo33]

How to last in microgames & freerolls

I invite all those who want to participate to make a kind of "manual" to survive the early stages of a microlimit or freeroll tournament. The idea is that everyone contributes their knowledge and we also discuss the ideas.

1- The first idea that comes to mind is not to play all-in with flip coins. If you win you will double your stack, which at the beginning of the tournament does not mean much. If you lose, you are dead.

2-The second thing that seems important to me is: it may seem that the rest of your table stacks many chips playing all kinds of hands, but in the long run they lose them in the same way. Patience and patience, wait for the good cards that will arrive sooner or later.

Well, I think it's fine with those two ideas to start. I am willing to discuss them with those who disagree,(you can always learn something new)

Finally, I invite you again to contribute your knowledge and experiences

Go easy in the first few rounds,..let all the stupes go all in & get knocked out,..Poker is a game of calculated risks over the lengh of the game, & the longer yr involved the more cards yr delt, also Folding is usually yr best friend during a game

 

[LitPavel]

In general, I do not quite understand the question. Survive the early stage of the tournament? Just don't play hands and you will survive this stage of the tournament. But then you will have the shortest stack at the middle stage and the probability that your premium hands will be called by two or three players with a medium hand is high. Therefore, it is necessary not just to survive this stage, but at least to double or triple your starting stack, if you do not do this, then the probability of reaching the late stage is very small.

1- The first idea that comes to mind is not to play all-in with flip coins. If you win you will double your stack, which at the beginning of the tournament does not mean much. If you lose, you are dead.

To fold all-in with a premium AA hand, etc. is a stupid strategy, in any table of starting hands you must either call or go all-in with them. And as you get closer to the prizes, the range of preflop all-in hands only increases.

2-The second thing that seems important to me is: it may seem that the rest of your table stacks many chips playing all kinds of hands, but in the long run they lose them in the same way. Patience and patience, wait for the good cards that will arrive sooner or later.

With a stack of 5 or more of your own, they risk only chips if you go all in on the preflop in the middle stage of the tournament, for example with AA, while you essentially remain in the same position as in the early stage of the tournament, that is, you either double or crash.

So no matter what you do, you should try to increase your chips at an early stage of the tournament, and not survive.

 

[imnoobpoker]

Playing aggressive after the money bubble most of the time the game will become very serious.

 

[uri73796]

Be smart when choosing hands to play. If you get doubled, then you don't need to go into the game with garbage and remember that there is a fold button

 

[azforlife]

Play snug as usual, Exploit edges PF to build huge stacks or hit implied odds with suited connectors and middling pairs to hit sets, boats etc