3 Steps To Mastering Your Freeroll Poker Tournament Strategy
There are two advantages to playing in freeroll tournaments. First, there’s no entry fee. Second, it’s a great opportunity to cut your teeth and develop your poker chops without springing any cash. Having said that, you still need to know what you’re doing. After all, your time is worth something and there’s prize money up for grabs.
Back in March, we covered a basic strategy for SNG tournaments. Our advice was to play tight into the Bubble so you don’t bust out before getting into a money position. With freerolls, it’s a little different.
Here’s an easy 3-step plan for making the most from freeroll tournaments. You’ll learn how to start with $0 and build your bankroll on the backs of the fish. Let’s get started.
Step 1: Loosen Up In The Beginning
Again, with SNGs and other tournaments, you should play tight going into the Bubble. But, with freerolls, you don’t have any of your own money on the line. Your most valuable asset is your time. The problem is that a big freeroll can suck hours from your day and not deliver much of a payout. So, loosen up a little and claim your chips early.
For example, in a multi-table tournament, you might play tight early and hit the flop only when you’re holding a high pair, Ace/King suited, or something similar. In the early stage of a freeroll, go in with weaker hands to work off the flop. It’s a little riskier, but again, you’re not putting your own money on the line. You want to make a quick strike to build your stack or move on to another freeroll.
By the way, there’s no shortage of them. For example, if you visit Full Tilt Poker, you’ll notice they organize over 500 freeroll tournaments every month.
You can see a visual presentation of how to use the Full Tilt Poker referral code here.
We know this early-stage strategy is contrary to what a lot of folks recommend. In fact, we often play tight ourselves. But, keep in mind that freerolls are a different beast and a contrarian approach can work beautifully.
Step 2: Choose Your Target Stacks
90 minutes into the freeroll, half the players have busted out and the blinds are much higher. Welcome to the middle stage. Look at your chip stack. If you loosened up your play during the first 90 minutes, you should either have a better than average stack or have busted out yourself.
At this point, tighten down the hatches and go after the smaller stacks struggling to hang on. Avoid taking on the bigger stacks. The good players will be raising more than calling; taking them on with weaker hands will get expensive. But, definitely put pressure on the smaller guys. They’ll be going after the blinds and will fold with the slightest pressure.
If the small stacks bet big from an early position, there’s a good chance they’re holding something solid. So, let them have it.
Step 3: Floor It
Toward the end of the freeroll, your window of opportunity starts closing quickly. Now’s the time to be aggressive. The smaller stacks will be tightening their play and hoping for a miracle flop. They’re not the ones you need to worry about. Keep the pressure up to make them fight for the blinds or die trying. Your true targets are the bigger stacks because chip strength is a huge factor during the late stage.
Tighten up your play because aside from completing a Hail Mary, going in with draw hands will decimate your stack. Remember, the players who are still at the table aren’t stupid. They won’t be easy to trap. If you’re holding a big hand past the flop and get into a heads up contest with a bigger stack, raise. Don’t call. Raise.
There you have it, a 3-step plan for making freerolls pay off. The key thing to remember is that you didn’t put any of your own money at stake. You can afford to play aggressive.
To get your feet wet in freerolls, visit FullTilt and try the strategy we’ve described above. Then, visit the Kick Ass Poker forums and let us know how you did.
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One Response to “3 Steps To Mastering Your Freeroll Poker Tournament Strategy”
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I made a list of cards I am allowed to call with preflop. If nobody raises, and a second list for if people raise up to 3x the blind. And to call if someone goes all in preflop, Pocket Qs Ks or As, or AK.
Besides that I fold everything, at first at least. Using this strategy I just finished 17th in a 250$ free roll (took 5 hours) and 117th in the weekly free roll tournament for round 1.
Out of 7,500 and 10,000 people. That’s pretty decent for just following a simple set of rules.