Why Online Freerolls Can Be Stranger To Play In Than Regular Poker Tournaments

One of the most common ways an online poker site can entice people to stay and play with them is to offer them a chance to play in regular online freeroll tournaments.

These events are usually free to enter for site customers, though some may require you to do something in order to earn a seat at the table.

All the popular sites, such as bet365 Poker, understand that a freeroll event is a good way to get customers, especially those with little or no bankroll, to play at the site once again and as such, they are used freely around the world.

Indeed, if you have ever been a member of a poker site, then it is likely you will have seen and perhaps participated in these freeroll tournaments.

Many sites offer freerolls to new members as a way to get them interested in what the site has to offer too.

However, after playing poker for many, many years and having played in hundreds of freerolls, if not more, over that time, I do question whether freeroll tournaments give players a real handle on what it is to play in a genuine poker tournament.

At least, in the early stages of the freeroll at least.

And in this article, I will explain why these freeroll tournaments can be very strange to play in, especially if you are used to playing in regular buy-in poker tournaments.

But surely a freeroll poker tournament is essentially the same as a buy-in poker tournament?

You would assume so, but I have found that indubitably this is not the case and there are many different reasons for that, some of which I will explore in more detail later in this article.

There is one small difference between a freeroll and buy-in and that is in a freeroll, you are not risking any of your bankroll, whereas in a buy-in tournament or on the cash tables, you are.

It may seem a small and trivial difference, but the effect of that can be huge and radically alter how those early stages of a freeroll play out.

So much so that in many of the freerolls I have played in, those first 30 minutes to an hour of the event can be almost like a lottery, where poker skill and intelligence plays little role in ensuring that you get into the paying places of a tournament.

And perhaps most frustratingly of all, there’s not much you can do about it, unless you hit some seriously strong hands, or decide to put your stack in the hands of fate.

So what kinds of things am I talking about? Well outlined below are some of the more common behaviours and moves I have observed at the freeroll tables.

• The Immediate All-In Caller(s)

Perhaps the most common opponent that you will find at the tables at the very start of the game, are players that will simply go all in, regardless of what hand they have and regardless of what decisions their opponents make at the table.

I have played at tables where there are several of these types of players and on one occasion, I can remember a table in a freeroll where seven of the seated players at the table went all in on the very first hand.

What players are doing here is trying to build up a large stack very quickly by going all-in and trusting that other opponents will either fold, or better still, also go all in.

With no money at risk, these players know that even if they lose, then it costs them nothing, but if they can win a pot where several others have gone all in, they can easily quadruple, or better, the size of their stack very quickly.

This then gives them a big bankroll advantage early in the tournament, meaning they can pick and choose when to play and try and wait things out until they reach the paying places in the tournament.

Of course, your chances of being able to do that are slim, but on the occasions it works, it can ensure that you get a payout of some form, and of course, if you lose, it hasn’t cost you anything.

• Ultra Loose Aggressive Players

The next step down from the players that go all in with any hand, are those that will go all in , or bet big, whenever they hit any half decent hand that stands a chance of connecting.

Again, these players are usually most numerous when the tournament has just started but because they will fold some hands, they tend to stick around until a little later in the tournament.

Players like this are also prone to making ridiculous bluffs, which if you can call them with confidence, can be their downfall.

Quite often these players come to the fore when a lot of the immediate all-in callers have been eliminated and the game is settling down and players are starting to bet a little more as they would in a buy in game.

However, their aim is the same, make a lot of chips at your expense by representing much stronger hands, or hoping the community cards turn out positive for them, in a relatively short space of time, knowing that if they lose, it hasn’t cost them anything.

• A-B-C Players

At the other end of the scale are those players that play a freeroll like it is a WSOP Main Event final table and who are unremittingly cautious when it comes to getting their chips in the pot.

Usually these players tend to be less experienced players, or complete novices, who have read something about the strategy of poker and how you should initially only play a very small range of hands.

What tends to happen then is that these players fold, fold, fold, fold and fold again until they hit something, then they make smaller than expected bets and in the face of opponents calling or raising will usually call the hand, rather than re-raise if they suspect they hold the stronger hand.

It is like they are playing poker via the numbers and their play is almost robotic like, to the point you can predict what bet they will make and what they’ll do in the face of a player being aggressive.

These are my favourite players at the table because they are generally easy to divorce from their chips if you are a relatively competent player.

• The Sharks

You may think freerolls are not the domain of the poker shark, but you’d be wrong. Sharks can make rich pickings from big freeroll events by putting their experience and skills to the test against lesser players and freerolls are a great place to do that.

Sharks are the players who seem to make the right calls at the right time. They know when to be aggressive and when to hold back and fold. They read their opponents (yes, it does happen online) and can quickly ascertain the type of player they are up against.

Sharks are the most difficult opponent you will face in freerolls for one simple reason, they are usually the most successful.

Freerolls certainly have their place in the modern poker room, but as a tool for improving your play, I think they don’t offer players a realistic feel of what a true cash tournament or game is played like. However, they are ideal as a taster for novice players, and as a chance to win some free cash for those more experienced.