Pre-Flop shoving

[Bozovicdj]

In the first 10 hands of the Saturday 300$ CC Freeroll I have seen three or four pre-flop shoves from different players who weren't facing any action before them.
So those are first lvl, open-shoves pre-flop!


Why would anyone do that? I mean do people just see AA and shove cause of being scared of the board or seeing flops or badbeats? That is just no way to play the game.

It is just a huge loss of value, not only during the first lvl of the tournament but even at later stages in deepstack MTTs

 

[Jamuka7657]

They probably either lack experience or aren't taking the freeroll seriously and just want to stack up quickly or bust. Even if the stakes aren't serious it is a bad habit.

 

[bellicoso]

This is what ruins freerolls for me, honestly. You have to essentially choose to be part of the madness or wait it out. I really wish the majority of players would play to win. It would be much more enjoyable, but I don't see that happening any time soon. In my opinion, it causes severe limitations to those trying to work on their game. This kind of play is just frustrating to deal with, again... my opinion.

Anyway, I hope you have some luck wherever you decide to play. Best to you going forward!

 

[west28]

its pretty much a gamble a coin flip, putting your tournaments life at risk.

 

[digdug0037]

If they don't have no money involved themselves, they are careless. Basically they just try to get a big stack early and hope for the best. It is also easy to take advantage of these players in the game. They may win a couple hands but once they lose a couple they tend to go all in with even the worst hands. Be patient and play smart, it pays off.

 

[RagNar87]

At least the 300$ freeroll must be played more seriosly . i play that freeroll with causion. At daily's i get a little wild.

 

[DizzyDeb717]

That's my least favourite part of freerolls as well. You see them take out great hands over and over again too.. with garbage cards. Very discouraging...

 

[kristersb123]

If it's early stage of tournament then its mistake for sure, but if you are short stacked then it isnt a mistake not at all. You just can't afford to see flop with 10bb or even with 15bb with hands like AK or AQ or any Ax, there are preflop push / fold charts which shows what hands you need to shove. Push / fold strategy usually goes when you are 1-15bb short, sometimes even with more.

 

[puzzlefish]

Think of it this way. It's a free game. It doesn't cost anything to play... or does it? It costs time. For games with cheap or non existing buy-ins, time is the most valuable resource. There will be players who want to stack up and have a good run at the money or just bust right away.. and based on how online poker plays, busting right away usually saves a long disappointing game anyway.

 

[mkdrummey]

I don't think I've ever been in a freeroll where this didn't happen. Apart from the occasional table of sitout players. It can be good if you pick up a massive hand early on because you will likely be called. I had AA 3 times in succession once and took out the only 3 players active at the table, meaning the rest of the sitouts were donating until I got moved.

It's annoying as hell but it's something you have to get used to. It's a great feeling busting these players, expecially if they have been shooting their mouth,

 

[RVTR7777]

I cannot say that it is a wrong or right move, at the beginning of the tournament I use this strategy to double my bets, there is no right or wrong in poker, just respect for whoever does it.:shakehand

 

[akmost]

There are many reasons , one of the most common IMO is that they think that a quick double up will make them run deep and get easier ITM. What they really accomplish is to win just the small and the big blind.

 

[popstani]

I think it’s really bad move, who will call pre flop all in? Only people with stronger holdings, and if no one calls they won 1,5bb - 30 chips. So what is the point of doing that?

 

[redmast]

This is due to the atmosphere that has developed on freerolls. In large tournaments, this does not happen because there everyone values the money invested. There are almost no fish.

 

[puzzlefish]

This is due to the atmosphere that has developed on freerolls. In large tournaments, this does not happen because there everyone values the money invested. There are almost no fish.

At what point is a tournament considered large?

 

[RVTR7777]

Good evening.

At what point is a tournament considered large?

A tournament is considered to be large when several players are in the same tournament.
Not for the prize amount.
This is my friend's point of view?

 

[Joe]

It gets a 'yikes' from me...

This is usually a good flag that the player either doesn't know what they're doing or doesn't care- either way, if there is no-one else in the pot, call with a wider range than usual and rake in easy chips with your suited Dead man's hand.. LOL.

 

[gryphon3005]

I agree with all the comments here about why these players pull this move. Like everyone else I can only guess as to their 'strategy' but the problem for the rest of us is when we are also at the same table. For me it's an opportunity to practice patience while I hope for a monster hand. Generally someone else takes the guy out before I catch. I must say though, that I also see this move at higher stakes. In particular in Omaha hi/lo games where the smaller stacks face a shove if they enter a pot pre-flop. There appears to be more pre-flop shoving than you would expect at higher stakes...maybe it's the 'new' aggression. .They're saying if you want to play with the big boys you better be ready to gamble. And, of course that's what they are doing...gambling.

 

[martinf1971]

I hate pre flop shoves, I like to see a flop. More often than not a preflop shove will have me folding so like you say they lose value. If I open with AA early in a competition I will want some action if somone has 3 bet I will 3 bet their 3 bet hoping that I can a 2 way pot. Sometimes actually quite often if they have a strong pocket pair they then shove hoping to get me off but with AA im just going to call and boom more often then not i have doubled up.

 

[heeyjean]

Thats a bad habit and i see it a way more than a would like. At least you can always identify this kind of players and focus on getting their chips before someone do this first.

 

[300HPGOD]

There are many reasons why players do this in freerolls and the reasons vary based on the player. Some just want to double up as fast as they can and dont really care if they bust since it is a freeroll. Others will jam because they have a good but not great hand and think it is best to jam since there are the first type of players who want to just double and will call the all in bet with 86 off. I agree with neither of these plays as they risk too much to gain near nothing. If you double up on the first hand, great. If you dont know how to use the power of those chips then what is really the difference?

In any case try to take advantage of this and know players go all in early way too light. If you have a premium hand, dont be afraid to get your chips in.