There is nothing worse than getting into a freeroll and getting knocked out early on, simply because you were taking the completely wrong angle. Seriously, I’ve been there. Freerolls are great: they offer you the opportunity to win money while not risking a dime. Unfortunately, because of this, you’re going to have a field swamped with morons just waiting to suck you out. It happens, and that’s something that can’t be helped. This guide will teach you how to play, and place, in freeroll tournaments. The overall strategy is to win big, or get knocked out early. The early stages are probably the most crucial parts of the entire tournament, as it sets up the rest of your game.
Early Stages
Be liberal in calling pre-flop. Blinds are very marginal compared to your stack, you can afford to catch people out with your mediocre suited-connectors when you hit a lucky flop. Post-flop, you really need to play a super-tight-aggressive gametype. No slowplaying (unless completely safe to), and most importantly: make them pay. Remember that there’s going to be a lot of fish, because it is a freeroll, so you’re going to get a lot of calling stations early on until they eventually get walloped in the long run. Double or triple up early on, and then tighten up as we progress to the middle stages of the tournament…
Middle Stages
By now, you should have an above average stack (honestly, you should be aiming to stay within the top 30 places the entire freeroll). If you can’t do this, it’s time to refine your early-stage game plan. Blinds are going up, and you’re really going to have to step back and tighten up your pre-flop game. If you catch a decent hand, raise – no cheap flops from here on out. Everyone here with mediocre stacks is now just trying not to bubble, or pushing to make a quick double up. Because of this, it’s a good time to bluff. People are playing more conservative (they want a piece of the money), so it makes bluffing a lot easier. Apply pressure to the short stacks and make it hard for them to play a hand. Push them out of the tournament. If they bet before you, though, fold.
Late Stages
Now, what you do from here on out really depends on what your chip-stack is like. If you’ve got a monster stack, you can continue applying pressure to the shorter stacks and push them out early. If you’re a short stack, you have one move and one move only: all-in. As the number of players on the final table dwindle down, it’s now time for you to sit back and let everyone else knock each other out. You’re going to see a lot of aggression, so just sit back, play tight and cruise to the higher payouts. Make your move only if you hit a solid hand.