Playing Freerolls

June 19, 2009

A lot of serious poker players don’t take freerolls seriously. For some, the time you spend trying to win something substantial, and the actual worth of the prize makes such an endeavor extremely unworthy. But thanks to Chris Ferguson who claims to have turned $0 to $10,000 on freerolls, a lot of poker players have tried to duplicate this feat.

Why are freerolls so difficult to win? Mainly because freerolls are FREE. Therefore, people don’t care if they lose because it won’t hurt their buy-ins any. So they go all-in with the most mediocre hands and you will bear witness to some of the sickest bad beats you’ve ever seen in poker.

If you, however, want the claim to fame of having turned zero bucks to a huge bankroll, you need to play it safe during the early levels. As a rule, while the blinds are less than 150, I only raise with the best hands—AA, KK, QQ, AKs, etc. Don’t even think of trying to reduce the field. During freerolls, you will be called by any Ace-Rag.

I also try to limp in a lot with mediocre hands. If I can see the flop cheap, I go ahead and due it. If I don’t hit the flop, I throw my cards away. If, however, I flop a monster, I’m going to play hard. Forget about slow-playing. Go ahead and be aggressive. You’ll get paid off.

Beware of too much action. If there are four people all-in, go ahead and fold your Pocket Queens. Pocket Jacks? Go ahead and throw them even faster. Wait and play real poker when the All-In junkies have busted out. Watch out for people who are pushing their chips on every hand. If you see someone like that, don’t even bother limping in unless you are willing to push as well.

Last but not the least, don’t even think of bluffing. You will get called. Semi-bluffs shouldn’t even be considered unless you have 12 outs or more. You can take it easy. Sooner or later when the field has been trimmed down, you’ll be able to play some good poker. In the meantime, keep your head down and step out of the way.

Posted by The Metro under Metro Blogs.