3 Strategies That Don't Work in Freerolls

For new players, freerolls are called bankroll boosters. Although they may seem like a source of easy money, they end up becoming a source of frustration and bad beats. And the reason for this is that you are probably playing the wrong way!

As you read this article, ask yourself if you can see yourself making any of these moves. If the answer is yes, you have something to fix. If not, I take everything back and assume that you are the unluckiest person in the world.

Here are 3 very common freeroll strategies that you shouldn't copy.

1 – Go all-in at all times

How often have you been beaten by that annoying player who goes all-in every hand? Quite often, right? And why do you think that happened? Because the guy is Russian?

If you think a poker room is deliberately making you lose to favor a worse player, there’s something wrong with your analytical thinking. You might think the guy is doing it because he’s drunk (he might be), or maybe he just doesn’t care. However, this guy won’t win the tournament even if he gets super lucky and knocks you out.

And that’s why you shouldn’t copy this strategy. It’s simple, the odds are stacked against this type of play and it will take its toll eventually. It will never last forever.

Also, you don't lose as often as you think. Write down all the hands where this happens and you lose and you'll find that the results are actually pretty close to the expected equity.

If you let yourself get frustrated and go all-in every hand, it won't be long before you get caught by a top pair. If you don't believe me, just try it a few times. After all, it won't cost you anything.

2 – Bluff

When you play freerolls, don't bluff. Don't even think about it! Why? Because out of the 9 people at your table, chances are:

• 3 don't know how to play
• 3 are playing every freeroll they can find out there
• 2 don't care at all about what they are doing

Each of your bluffs will be called by a random hand, from someone who doesn't realize they shouldn't be calling, and yet still has a better hand than you.

Don't expect common sense from your opponents, because you won't find any. The button you clicked to enter the tournament shouldn't be called "register" but rather "forget all common sense, ye who enter."

In fact, the only reason this isn't the real phrase is because it's too big to fit on a button.

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3 – Playing the ABC of Poker

Didn't you read the previous paragraph? You're trying to apply common sense again. Don't forget that people don't care!

Forget poker strategies and all the articles you've read out there, freerolls work in a different and peculiar way. It's like a place near a black hole, where physics doesn't work the way it usually does.

Do you think a 3x raise with a good hand will win you the pot if no one has a good hand? It won't work, forget it.

The concept of “raise to win” is also non-existent in this world. Try it and see for yourself.

Checking with someone to eliminate a third short stack player? Forget it, you'll get all-ined on the river.

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The strategy that works in freerolls

Having established that traditional strategies don't work and that we are facing bad players with no common sense, we will use this to our advantage.

Strategies that work:

1 – Clean a lot

You won't find this in any strategy article, but do it anyway. Any hand you raise from early position will get you an all-in, even at early blind levels.

So you can raise your AK and JJ, but you will always be up against at least 2 players. Look at an odds calculator, your equities against two random hands are not very good.

Instead, choose to limp with many hands and play the flop. The later your position, the more hands you can limp.

If you flop two pair or three of a kind, bet big, or even go all-in. There is always someone calling with a middle pair or even overcards like AQ.

2 – Pay with Top-Top

However, this doesn't mean you should play too aggressively. You should always call with hands like AK on boards like AT953.

You will sometimes come across hands like 95 or even 42, but more often it will be AQ, AJ, KK, QQ, JJ or even a second pair. In general, top pair with a higher kicker will usually be the winning hand.

3 – Be aggressive with 'monster' hands

If you are dealt hands like JJ or better, don't slowplay. Don't try to trap, don't try to be smart.

Just go all-in and wait. Worse hands will call, although sometimes they will beat you (this is normal, since you never have a 100% chance of winning a hand before the flop), but overall, you will build a good stack.

Return to the ABCs of Poker

In the later stages of the freerolls, you can go back to the basics of the basics, as most of the clueless players will have fallen away. If you make it to the final table, you'll have to be as lucky as you would be at any final table.

Keep these strategies in your repertoire and you'll save yourself a lot of frustration. And don't forget, to play real poker you need to bet some real money!

Article translated and adapted from the original: 3 Poker Free Tournaments Strategies That Don't Work (& 1 That Does)