Tactics for starting an online texas holdem freeroll tournament.

[christovam]

Strategy #1
🎯 1. Play tight-aggressive at the start
At the first levels, many players go all-in. Avoid this mistake: play few hands, but aggressively (raising instead of just calling).

 

[machinm19]

I agree in general with this statement. When I took freerolls more seriously my first rule was do not get involved in the opening 5 hands no matter what. Aces and kings obviously but nothing else. I found this starting strategy to be really helpful in building a bankroll as by the time hand 6 came around hundreds of players had been knocked out already.

 

[renisundernet]

I dont raise being aggressive because I unintetionally hesitate for a moment, which in these cases makes a whole lot of difference. However, if I am talking about now and in thr future, I need to keep that mentality in mind, as well as play in higly decisive spots with aggressiveness. Hope that makes sense,cause I only recently adopted this strategy, which is obvious theoretically, but hard to cover in real time.

 

[sandy358]

When I took freerolls more seriously my first rule was do not get involved in the opening 5 hands no matter what.

I kinda disagree with this specifically, unless you are playing against a strong table that won't go multiway with garbage or a strong player 3bet or squeezed before you and the weak table just followed. Even though isoing limpers large is important, overlimping with a small suited ace or a small pocket pair (or to the lesser extent with suited connectors or good suited one-gappers) to hunt for the nuts is not that bad of a play multiway, especially as you don't have to fulfill the MDF quota on the flop there and can easily overfold without being exploitable (not like anyone cares about exploits at the weak tables anyways).

 

[Mig32]

Strategy #1
🎯 1. Play tight-aggressive at the start
At the first levels, many players go all-in. Avoid this mistake: play few hands, but aggressively (raising instead of just calling).

In the early stages of an online Texas Hold’em freeroll, my main tactic is to play tight and disciplined. A lot of players tend to go all-in with weak hands hoping to double up early, so I usually sit back and wait for strong starting hands like big pairs or suited connectors in good position. Letting the wild action knock each other out can give you a better chance to survive and build a stack.

Once the tournament thins out and the average stack grows, I start opening up my range and become more aggressive — especially in late position. Stealing blinds and applying pressure to short stacks becomes key, but only if I’m aware of who’s likely to fold and who’s calling too loose. Overall, patience in the beginning and adapting as the structure changes has worked well for me.

 

[R.Holynskyi]

Strategy #1
🎯 1. Play tight-aggressive at the start
At the first levels, many players go all-in. Avoid this mistake: play few hands, but aggressively (raising instead of just calling).

Freerolls are mostly a bingo game. However, if you have a well-thought-out strategy and are patient enough, your chances will definitely increase. Generally speaking, the main thing in freerolls is to bluff rarely and play with strong cards.

 

[TeUnit]

The best thing you can do when starting out is to take a beginner course like the CC one. Make sure you have the basics right and you not doing anything ridiculous like open limping. Then you can progress to joining a training site, getting a icm tool like Icmizer, and then to getting a coach.

 

[sandy358]

anything ridiculous like open limping

I mean, open limping can occasionally be a good, though not a GTO, play, if you are playing against a table of very passive players, where if you make a standard raise you are going to get into a 60-ways pot anyways, when you are trapping with a good hand against a maniac, or in general against a table of pathological overlimpers if you are not going to get isoed often enough by the players on the table and you have a hand with a good multiway postflop playability (multiway is always fun, as you always get comically huge pot odds and can cheaply get a huge pot). Though if teaching the beginners then kinda yeah, the rule of thumb is not to openlimp (nor overlimp).

 

[machinm19]

I kinda disagree with this specifically, unless you are playing against a strong table that won't go multiway with garbage or a strong player 3bet or squeezed before you and the weak table just followed. Even though isoing limpers large is important, overlimping with a small suited ace or a small pocket pair (or to the lesser extent with suited connectors or good suited one-gappers) to hunt for the nuts is not that bad of a play multiway, especially as you don't have to fulfill the MDF quota on the flop there and can easily overfold without being exploitable (not like anyone cares about exploits at the weak tables anyways).

I don’t think it’s a bad play at all. I just personally played and cashed a lot more times by avoiding early hands and I have literally played tens of thousands of those tournaments. A lot of them are 1c difference in prize money for a few hundred places so my first aim was always the min cash. I play completely different in paid tournaments. I started to fold Ak and Aq when 4 players were all on early on when I’d snap that off in a 5.50 buy in. It genuinely worked for me.

 

[Sparta77]

I'm trying to double my chips and I'll get to the paycheck.

 

[christovam]

Strategy #2

💰 2. Value strong hands and extract chips
AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ and AQ should be played with raises or even all-ins, especially against players who call with anything.

 

[renisundernet]

Strategy #2

💰 2. Value strong hands and extract chips
AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ and AQ should be played with raises or even all-ins, especially against players who call with anything.

How do you prepare psychologically that a series of some of these hands would be incoming? I feel very emotional and a bit confused when, after some random cards, the premium ones are suddenly showing up. However, a lot of these times I get there, just wondered if thats common or not.

 

[kaynbergo]

I agree with this tactic, it's better to play aggressively with a strong hand at the very beginning, because at the beginning of a freeroll, many players try to enter the hand to catch something while they have a big stack with various junk hands, and if you let them enter cheaply, they can turn your strong hands into losing ones

 

[christovam]

Como você se prepara psicologicamente para que uma série de algumas dessas mãos esteja chegando? Sinto-me muito emocionado e um pouco confuso quando, depois de algumas cartas aleatórias, as premium aparecem de repente. No entanto, muitas dessas vezes eu chego lá, apenas me pergunto se isso é comum ou não.

I feel relieved because when they come, the blinds have already risen a lot and I'm left with few chips, which means it's time to double.

 

[christovam]

Eu concordo com essa tática, é melhor jogar agressivamente com uma mão forte logo no início, porque no início de um freeroll, muitos jogadores tentam entrar na mão para pegar algo enquanto eles têm um grande stack com várias mãos lixo, e se você deixá-los entrar barato, eles podem transformar suas mãos fortes em mãos perdedoras

One thing I have learned: never go limp with big hands, because the table always tilts toward the villain. Going all-in sometimes scares opponents away and can prevent you from winning more chips.

 

[christovam]

Strategy #3

⚠️ 3. Avoid bluffing in the early levels

Players in freerolls tend not to fold weak hands. Bluffs rarely work in the beginning. Prefer to win on value (value betting).

 

[fernandovr]

I think starting a freeroll requires a lot of patience. In the early levels, I prefer to play only strong hands to avoid unnecessary confrontations. Later, as the blinds go up, I playing more aggressively.

 

[anasslaaleg]

Starting Tactics for
Freerolls have wild and unpredictable early stages, so the goal is survival + chip accumulation without taking unnecessary risks.
1. Play only strong starting hands: big pairs
Avoid chasing marginal draws without good odds; there's no need to play with garbage early on.
2. Let. Many freeroll players bet all-in with anything in the early levels.
Sit back and let them kill each other beforehand.
3. Value > Bluff
At this stage, bluffing is usually a waste of time: too many players.
Focus on extracting value.
4. Play more hands on the button and cutoff, fewer in early position.
Being last to act allows you to control the pot size.
5. Stack Protection
Don't risk your entire stack too early unless you're way ahead. Remember: Freer
Mental advice: The number of freerolls will quickly dwindle. Survive the chaos, then adapt to a more aggressive approach.

 

[renisundernet]

Its obvious that a series if good strategies have a distinct feeling to it, but still I get confused and resort to my old plays which arent in these categories. Feels good to have them recognized and learn from them.

 

[christovam]

Strategy #4

🧱 4. Protect your battery

Don't risk a lot of chips with mediocre hands. Build your stack gradually and securely. Remember: you don't win the tournament at the start, but you could lose it.

 

[mclay]

Strategy #1
🎯 1. Play tight-aggressive at the start
At the first levels, many players go all-in. Avoid this mistake: play few hands, but aggressively (raising instead of just calling).

A strong tactic, but few people use it in freerolls.

 

[Thuan]

Strategy #1
🎯 1. Play tight-aggressive at the start
At the first levels, many players go all-in. Avoid this mistake: play few hands, but aggressively (raising instead of just calling).

Yesterday I didn't win a single hand for about 30 minutes 😂 i always got 2,8

 

[moraeskvmi]

Get a really good hand and go all in, there's always someone who calls, doubles, now play normally.

 

[christovam]

Get a really good hand and go all in, there's always someone who calls, doubles, now play normally.

I only play all-in if I come with premium hands and someone has already raised.

 

[christovam]

Strategy #5
🧠 5. Observe opponents' patterns
Use the first levels to identify loose, tight, aggressive or passive players. These readings will be useful later on.