The All-Inclusive Poker Freeroll Strategy Guide
Freeroll poker tournaments are the best way to get started with the game of cards. One of the primary reasons for people to fear away from trying their hand at poker is the aspect of incurring a loss. Being a game that combines skill and luck, it is inevitable to have a bad game or two, especially when you play for a longer time. However, freeroll tournaments come at no price as the name aptly puts it.
There are no buy-in charges for these games as their prime focus is to get players used to the idea of poker so that they gain some confidence. The poker room generally sponsors the prize pool in freerolls. You could also win an opportunity to play a bigger tournament for free, depending on the freeroll tournament’s terms and conditions before signing up.
Players are afforded liberty with freerolls to experiment with their different poker strategies since almost everyone at the table could be an amateur. Freeroll tournaments are great to build your bankroll as you do not have any investment, but you still stand a chance to win it all. Texas Hold’em is often the most widely played format in freeroll games.
This means that it would be in your best interest to be well equipped with hold ’em rules. With that being said, there are several ways you can pick which poker freeroll strategy works best for you. We have considered every element of the game, and here are some of the best game plans to help you find your ideal online poker freerolls strategy.
- Start Tight
Naturally, being surrounded by a handful of inexperienced players having nothing to lose, you will see that in the opening minutes, many participants will go all out with crazy bets and even go all-in preflop. During this phase, your goal is to play tight and remain calm without being overwhelmed by all the aggression. Your aim here shouldn’t be to play core poker strategies since most of the players make huge moves trying to gather big stacks. If you hold big pairs in the first few minutes, play them but fold everything else. You can pounce into the action when things have settled in.
- Be Aggressive
Aggressive poker will always be a strategy that is applied to winning poker. People are usually so attached to their chips; they’re very calculative because of the real money investment. However, all of that is out of the frame in freeroll poker tournaments because you have no monetary investment involved. This allows you the freedom to play fearlessly and aggressively. You should always hunt for the pot, don’t be afraid and play your big hands wisely. Don’t be radical with your moves, especially not at the top. But as the game progresses, you must take the right chances.
- Dominate the No-showers
While playing in lower level freerolls, you will come across many players during the early stages who will intentionally sit out and not participate in the game. They either forget or just don’t care, and while this may be upsetting for some, it also turns the tides in your favor because the game is short-handed. If the player to act after you is sitting out and if everyone else before you has already folded, then your best bet would be to raise with any two cards and steal the blinds.
- Try Limping
Regardless of the variant, it is always reliable to try and limp or pay a minor amount to see a flop while playing in a multi-way pot. Holding small pocket pairs, your motive is to hit a well-disguised set. If you manage to flop the third card in a freeroll game, it is very much possible that, owing to your opponents’ inexperience, they are likely not to put you on a hand that strong. Instead, they might continue to bet or call your raises, holding top pairs or worse. If you fast-play hands like straights, sets, and flushes, you should end up with a good payday.
- Jam the Pot
Even a top pair or top kicker could sometimes turn out to be a big hand. You shouldn’t let go of the chance to hit the pot and increase it when you know you’re ahead. Instead of betting for value, try large bets or re-raises because your opponents in freerolls are likely to call them even with weak hands. This is how most of the chips come from early on, so shove when you can.
- Play Big Pairs Mercilessly
With hands like A-A and K-K you always stand a chance to make a huge raise or an all-in push no matter which position you’re playing from. By doing so, either the armature players on board will call you with any Ace, pair or suited cards or perhaps a player with the same skill level as you might feel the freeroll stipulation is perfect for a gamble and might call yours with a low pair. There is a chance that everyone might fold, but if someone does play, then your profits could be doubled. If the table is short-handed or if the blinds are small, then a big raise would do the trick instead of an all-in.
- Don’t Let the Chatting Get to You!
With all the amateur players gathering in to play freeroll tournaments, the chat box is probably not the most fun place for you to look at during these games. You see players talking about bad beat stories as though it wasn’t their lousy play that cost them the pot. You are also likely to encounter players that will coach others without having much experience themselves. These aren’t healthy chat boxes where there is any constructive discussion going on. Mostly it is just about complaints and needless clatter. Stay away from it, focus on your game and make sure you beat the ones claiming that it’s only luck that’s not doing them justice.
- Dissect the Fish
The ‘fish’ in poker is a term used to describe that one player at the table doesn’t know what he’s doing and simply does what he feels is right at the moment with not much logic involved. While new players are often advised to stick to the ‘Abc’ game plan, fishes do not abide by any such strategies, and they make wild moves. Being a freeroll, you are certain to come across more than one such player in the game, and your idea should be to try and track the moves they make, think why they would do that, and try to do the exact opposite. Doing so will eliminate them from the game and increase your chances even more.
Freeroll poker tournaments offer an arena to practice and perfect the game for newcomers. Those who are just starting with poker and don’t have a big bankroll to rely on, playing a freeroll tournament is always their answer. While winning may not always be possible given the sheer number of participants, a lot of learning can occur. You can find many such poker tournaments on Spartan Poker. Register on our platform in the easiest way possible and enjoy your poker experience.
