Freerolls are a great way to gain tournament experience without having to put your own money at risk. You will find that the beginning of these types of tournaments can be dicey, though, for precisely this reason. You’re not risking your own money and this persuades people to take risks that they otherwise would not take. This style of play operates on the assumption that if they are lucky enough to win big on the first few hands, they will be in a superior position later on in the tournament. This strategy might work out occasionally, but not as often as you would hope.
The reality is that a cautious yet aggressive approach will suit you much better. One of the great things about tournaments—especially online tournaments—is that your opponents will never get a true handle on your ability as a poker player. If you set up an early reputation as someone that only plays the very best hands, later on you can exploit this image if you don’t change tables too much. This will allow you to play more bluffs and win bigger hands.
In other words, you don’t want to play a lot of hands, but you want to play the ones that are worthwhile aggressively. As the tournament progresses and the stakes get higher, then you can start playing more hands, depending upon the situation you are dealt and the people at your table. This is especially because at later stages in the game your opponents will naturally start playing fewer hands under the impression that this will carry them deeper into the game and into the money. When people start playing tighter, you should loosen up your game in order to take advantage of their weakness and steal more hands away from them.
Many online poker sites sponsor freerolls on a regular basis. A simple search within your site’s tournament section will let you know when the next one is and what you need to do in order to qualify. Some freerolls require you to have a certain number of points to be eligible while others are completely open to those that sign up first.
You don’t even need to deposit money into the site to take advantage of some freerolls. In these instances, you can place in the money in a few free tournaments and go on to win money and thus start playing for higher stakes without ever having to use your own money. Only a few poker players have the talent to sustain their playing in such a manner, but it is possible. If you are just playing for fun, this can be a great introduction to poker and a lot of fun at the same time.
