What is an Online Poker Freeroll Tournament
The industry standard for handing out free poker money is through special no-buy-in tournaments called freerolls. These freeroll tournaments are worth real money but cost absolutely nothing to enter. While freeroll tournaments sound too good to be true, there are a few catches to finding the right ones.
The Different Types of Freeroll Tournaments
The hallmark of a freeroll tournament is that there is no buy-in required to enter the tournament and this is almost always the case, but it is important to remember that just because there is no entry fee to the tournament that there aren’t catches to getting into them. From special country restrictions to deposit requirements, freeroll tournaments often require a bit more than the willingness to join the tournament.
The most common freeroll is the deposit freeroll tournament. Once a player joins an online poker room there is almost always a series of freeroll tournaments that the player will automatically qualify for. These are called “First Depositors Freerolls”. Not to be finished, many rooms also host deposit freerolls for those who deposit additional money onto their poker room account on a regular basis. They usually range in value, but can hold anywhere from $25-$250 prize pools.
There are also massive freeroll tournaments that several poker rooms host as promotional tools. Carbon Poker did this in May 2010 with their $100,000 freeroll. This is one of the largest freeroll tournaments any poker room has ever hosted. The winning player netted $20,000, which is a massive payday for any tournament let alone a freeroll. The catch with these types of freerolls is that they take some time to qualify for. Normally there are satellite freeroll tournaments that players have to play in to qualify for the high cash value freerolls.
Beyond these, the most popular type of freeroll are private freerolls that are sponsored by a number of companies and individuals. From online poker communities like Pokerspace to the major online poker companies like PokerNews there are a number of very popular freerolls. These usually require passwords and have restricted player lists to keep non-members out of the freeroll.
Things like Size to Consider about Freeroll Tournaments
There are several aspects of freerolls to take into consideration before playing. Remember that freerolls mean that players have nothing to lose but their time so basic poker strategy is thrown out the window. Freeroll poker strategy is very different from normal tournament play and can be tricky to master. Also, even though the prize pools run into the thousands those who place in the money can end up with less than a dollar for hours worth of playing. Additionally because of the zero cost buy-in, freerolls can attract thousands of players, this is why private freerolls like the ones Pokerspace and PokerNews hold are very popular.
Freerolls are an excellent way to start a bankroll on a poker room, but if playing for hours to possibly win nothing seems too daunting, try a free poker money deal from various free bankrolls sites. There is a lot of free money poker rooms want to give out and freerolls are only a small part of that.
How to Play and Win an Online Poker Freeroll Tournament
Finding free poker money can be one of the most exciting experiences for online poker players. Most of the free poker money out there can be found in freeroll tournaments that various poker rooms, like PokerStars, and even poker communities, like Pokerspace, run for their players that cost nothing to enter. The trick to winning a freeroll poker tournament is control and patience.
Playing the Beginning Stages of the Freeroll
No matter the size of the freeroll, whether there’s 100 players or 1000 in the player field, the beginning stages of a freeroll are very chaotic. Because there’s nothing at stake in a freeroll, many will go all-in on the first couple of hands no matter their cards just so they can double up quickly or lose and go on to another tournament. In the opening stages of a freeroll it is best to play very tight unless dealt an extremely good hand like JJ-AA. Fold anything but a high pair, because it can be very easy to be drawn into a bad hand and lose valuable chips just to see a flop.
In the beginning stages it is very important to build a chip stack, not lose any. Defensive play is the name of the game of a freeroll with no deposit bonus. Act decisively and confidently as it can be very easy to suddenly find that the chip stack that was decently sized was chopped in half due to a bad call then fold. As the game continues and players become more invested in the freeroll, game play should change more conservatively.
Playing the Middle Stages of a Freeroll
Once two or three people from the first table are knocked off the virtual tables are sure to be shuffled and after the first half hour to an hour of play the freeroll should start to calm down. Once the tables have calmed down start to open up a bit more and play tight-aggressive poker. Play premium hands, but as the field starts to shrink be sure to move into a “raise or fold” strategy.
Before a freeroll enters into its last few tables it is very important to begin tight-aggressive play, unless the players are acting very cautiously by minimum calling. If a table is beginning to act cautiously now is the time to try and take advantage of it by raising or re-raising, as long as the hole cards are of value. This tactic is very good for stealing blinds and bets during a period where the blinds are sure to be in the 500/1000 range.
Playing the Final Table of a Freeroll
When playing the final table of a freeroll stack size is the most important factor in picking a strategy. If short stacked call all-in pre-flop the second good to premium hole cards appear; that’s the only shot at staying alive. If in middle stack position play tight and only with good hands. For high-stack final table play call the all-ins from the short stacks with nearly any hand. As the players start to be eliminated normal final tournament play should take over.
Freerolls can take a lot of time to win, or even cash in, but there is a lot of value to them. For those new to freerolls check out a poker community like Pokerspace which holds dozens of freeroll tournaments for free poker money all the time where the player levels aren’t astronomical.
