Strategy for freeroll tournaments

[Tinmar]

Whats your strategy when playing low stakes online tournaments, especially freeroll? On one hand, the prize is ussually winner heavy, and like 70% of money goes to top 10 people, so it makes sense to play risk in the beggining and try to pick up 1 or 2 all ins. This way you can get a good advantage over the others and it will be much easier to stay at the top od the ranking. On the other hand, I think this is what most players are doing, especially because they dont want to spend 2hrs playing just to end up being in the bottom of the ranking... This could make a great opportunity to only play premium hands and when you do go all in with them you have a good chance someone will call.

 

[skkz1997]

Play freeroll tournaments the same way you would a regular tournament.
Be tight in the early game. Doubble up early won't guarantee you a prize, but being eliminated will deprive you of your chances of cashing in.
Many players will value winning the biggest prizes to build up their bankroll, and so they'll be safer, folding more than they should in the mid-game. This is when you should press on and accumulate chips to have a good stack for a deep run.

 

[Mario7]

Well, I believe a reasonable strategy in early game play as it was a cash game, 100-200bb stacks. Later on it is more complicated - stack dependend and position dependent. Some people however may treat early phase in more aggresive way - kind or "win or loose quickly to not to waste time" - since they are cheap low stakes or just freerolls. This attitude is reasonable as well, but I would not reccomend it for a begginning player.

In the end I must admit I am bad at tournaments

 

[roberto51]

It's hard to talk about any serious strategy in freerolls, since all-in play is common there.

 

[aorodrigo]

Whats your strategy when playing low stakes online tournaments, especially freeroll? On one hand, the prize is ussually winner heavy, and like 70% of money goes to top 10 people, so it makes sense to play risk in the beggining and try to pick up 1 or 2 all ins. This way you can get a good advantage over the others and it will be much easier to stay at the top od the ranking. On the other hand, I think this is what most players are doing, especially because they dont want to spend 2hrs playing just to end up being in the bottom of the ranking... This could make a great opportunity to only play premium hands and when you do go all in with them you have a good chance someone will call.

Your way of thinking is not correct.
Blinds are cheap at the beginning of a tounrmant, so you should play tight. There are a bunch of players who will go allin with mediocre hands like 44 or A5, you need to seek those spots. As tournament keeps going, adjust your strategy and start playing a bit more agressive, specially near the bubble.

 

[Omar.Imrane]

Honestly, playing freerolls feels a lot like going to a big wedding: everyone’s invited for free, everyone’s hungry, and everyone’s rushing straight to the buffet (the prizes). 😅

My strategy is pretty simple:
At the start, I just let people knock each other out while I sit back and watch… like someone waiting for the crowd to clear before getting their couscous. If you jump in too early, you’ll probably be out before your first ice cube melts in the drink. 🧊

But! If I get a real hand (AA, KK, AK suited), I’ll jump into the chaos with confidence, because in these freerolls there’s always that one player who shoves all-in with Q7 off-suit like they just invented poker. 😂

Once you survive that first “massacre phase,” the game suddenly slows down: everyone starts playing like philosophers, thinking about every move. That’s when I mix patience with a few sneaky plays to build my stack quietly.

 

[Tinmar]

Your way of thinking is not correct.
Blinds are cheap at the beginning of a tounrmant, so you should play tight. There are a bunch of players who will go allin with mediocre hands like 44 or A5, you need to seek those spots. As tournament keeps going, adjust your strategy and start playing a bit more agressive, specially near the bubble.

Oh okay, thanks! I thought it made sense risking it all for a chance to get a very good ranking but I guess its not a good strategy afterall.

 

[Tinmar]

Honestly, playing freerolls feels a lot like going to a big wedding: everyone’s invited for free, everyone’s hungry, and everyone’s rushing straight to the buffet (the prizes). 😅

My strategy is pretty simple:
At the start, I just let people knock each other out while I sit back and watch… like someone waiting for the crowd to clear before getting their couscous. If you jump in too early, you’ll probably be out before your first ice cube melts in the drink. 🧊

But! If I get a real hand (AA, KK, AK suited), I’ll jump into the chaos with confidence, because in these freerolls there’s always that one player who shoves all-in with Q7 off-suit like they just invented poker. 😂

Once you survive that first “massacre phase,” the game suddenly slows down: everyone starts playing like philosophers, thinking about every move. That’s when I mix patience with a few sneaky plays to build my stack quietly.

Thank you for explaining it! If you play freerolls, what are the best ones?

 

[veszmo]

I strive to get into paid positions as much as possible. When I have that, I take more risks.

 

[Creative]

That's a very interesting observation. I've never looked at it that way. Personally, I don't sit out, but I try to play actively in the first phase. However, you're right, it's often possible to be eliminated in the early phase of a freeroll with a strong hand, such as AA, AK, or KK. I'll try to play the next freeroll your way.

 

[sandy358]

try to pick up 1 or 2 all ins

You are far from guaranteed to cash if you only double up twice, not even talking about reaching the final table.

This could make a great opportunity to only play premium hands and when you do go all in with them you have a good chance someone will call.

99% of the time you will just make the entire table fold if you open-jam, especially if you are obviously nitting. Just extract value with your premiums normally. There are spots where you can open-jam, but it is rarely premiums (these most of the time prefer not to jam preflop, unless it is AKo, jacks or suited broadway kings/connectors). Though in freerolls people play much worse, but it's still not really a carte blanche to waste your premiums on stealing 2BB.

 

[Mantinhoo]

In freerolls I usually play tight early, since many players bust quickly, then open up my range once the field thins out. Patience + premium hands early, aggression later works best for me.

 

[padman400]

Get all in quickly and double up then play tight. If you go out so be it, saves time and there are always other freerolls to play.

 

[UngureanuDan]

The strategy could be to play many freeroll everyday!

 

[chicbulls2]

hahhah there is basically no strategy involved until the last third of a tournament, people are bombing with any two cards

 

[steve01991]

its tough, you get people who play reckless, and those are the ones you can capitalize on. still ends up being the luck of the cards

 

[ramdon p358]

It is common to see that in free tournaments most players play many hands, I think the best strategy is to stay calm and take advantage of these types of situations.

 

[swedishpanda]

Whats your strategy when playing low stakes online tournaments, especially freeroll? On one hand, the prize is ussually winner heavy, and like 70% of money goes to top 10 people, so it makes sense to play risk in the beggining and try to pick up 1 or 2 all ins. This way you can get a good advantage over the others and it will be much easier to stay at the top od the ranking. On the other hand, I think this is what most players are doing, especially because they dont want to spend 2hrs playing just to end up being in the bottom of the ranking... This could make a great opportunity to only play premium hands and when you do go all in with them you have a good chance someone will call.

If you want to cash in freerolls you don't have to stack up and have a monster stack in the beginning of a tournament. Its the same way as you play an ordinary tournament (none freeroll - with a buy in). You can still end up semi final tabling bust a freeroll even if you got the monster stack of the f-----ng monster stack in the beginning =))) Same as the quote ''a chip and a chair'' is still accurate here even tho the tournament is a freeroll or not'=)

 

[Natox]

Whats your strategy when playing low stakes online tournaments, especially freeroll? On one hand, the prize is ussually winner heavy, and like 70% of money goes to top 10 people, so it makes sense to play risk in the beggining and try to pick up 1 or 2 all ins. This way you can get a good advantage over the others and it will be much easier to stay at the top od the ranking. On the other hand, I think this is what most players are doing, especially because they dont want to spend 2hrs playing just to end up being in the bottom of the ranking... This could make a great opportunity to only play premium hands and when you do go all in with them you have a good chance someone will call.

Hey Tinmar,
In a freeroll poker tournament, adopt a conservative, patient approach by playing only strong starting hands and big hands, avoiding risky bluffs in the early stages. As the tournament progresses and blinds increase, identify conservative and aggressive players and adjust your strategy. Target opponents with medium-sized stacks for aggressive plays while avoiding the chip leader, and don't overcommit to marginal hands, using the tournament as a learning opportunity.
Always keep in mind, the variance and loss stretches can be tough. But its normal.

Good luck to you,
Natox

 

[kaynbergo]

I try to play freerolls just like regular tournaments. At the very beginning of the freeroll, I don't play crazy all-in multipots with my hands below KK, but then, as I get closer to the final table, the game feels more like a regular tournament.

 

[Vrotebal]

There's no strategy in a freeroll; an ace comes in, and we're going all-in.

 

[schtiuky]

I find myself in a lot of bad positions if I try to play normal from the start that why I play very aggressive the premium hands and sit out from the rest. After a while things get back to normal until the bubble when big stack try to rip off everything they can.