Learn How to Play Poker FreeRolls - Part 2

In a freeroll, you are wagering nothing. You’ve put no money of your own into the freeroll, so people play accordingly – loose and reckless. People will play horrible hands simply because they don’t care if they bust, and they can win a lot of chips if they get lucky. Only when the prizes are really good, or when players get closer to the cash positions, does the poker start resembling real poker.

So there are a few ways to approach freerolls at the beginning. The majority play strategy 1 or 3. The right strategy for you will depend on the time you are willing to commit to the freeroll, the importance of the prizes to you and how those around you are playing.

Strategy 1: The Spin Up

Basically, you are trying to get all of your chips into a pot early. Why? Because everyone else is. In some freerolls you might see most of the table pushing on the first hand. Even if you wait out the opening rounds and play solid tight poker, by the time you play your genuine hand you may be up against players with ten times the chips you have meaning that eventually your premium hand will be beaten by the player with a huge stack playing a wide range.. They can afford to play every pot, and you can’t.

This strategy calls for you to push on the first hands with most of your holdings. The benefit of this? You find out early if you want to devote time to the freeroll. If you can start creating a big stack early, you have a much better chance of cashing.  If you lose? So what? You haven’t lost anything.  I don’t recommend this when the freeroll offers better prizes. The poker is likely to be much better.


Strategy 2: Just sit there

The exact opposite approach can sometimes work in freerolls as well. Since you know nearly everyone else is trying to get lucky, sitting back and waiting for a monster can be a good strategy. Take their aggressiveness and use it against them. The pre-flop monster is good, but can get you into trouble against multiple big stacks. The post-flop monster, when you’ve hit your big hand, is preferable.

Don’t sit back and let people bet it for you. Bet out against the big stacks. They’ll probably call you because they’re bored. Or want to get lucky again.

The goal here is too build a bankroll through solid play, which doesn’t always work. But if you’re playing as much for fun as for the result, this can be a good way to play a freeroll.

Strategy 3: Going fishing

Here your goal is to see as many flops as possible before the stacks around you get too big.

This probably means skipping the first few hands when those following an all-in strategy are playing away, and maybe the first several. Once the play calms down, call with any two cards, unless you are up against heavy action before you. Once again, the goal is to get lucky and try to build a stack early giving yourself perhaps dozens of hands to do so. You’ll once again figure out if you can get a big stack early, making it worth your while to play.