How To Succeed In The Poker Freerolls Part 1
By Ian McIntosh, Sat Dec 10th

Online freerolls are a unique breed amongst pokertournaments and require a certain way of playing in order tosucceed. Here are 6 top tips that will help you succeed inonline freeroll tournaments.

1. Be patient.

I've put this rule first as I believe patience is the number onemost important quality required to do well in the freerolls. Oneimportant point to bear in mind is that freerolls usually havehundreds of entrants and can take several hours to complete. Ifyou want to be there at the final table you will need to be verypatient.

2. Be Aggressive.

Freerolls are multi-table tournaments and you will usually beseated at a table of ten all the way through the tournament.This is a good thing in a way as it means you don't need toadjust your play to suit a shorter table, but it does mean thatwhen you do have a good hand you need to play it aggressively.Top pairs like Aces and Kings should always be raised stronglypre-flop as they can often come unstuck after the flop. Wheneveryou get a good hand, ie a high pair or AKs, AQs, you must beaggressive.

3. Play less hands.

As well as being aggressive you need to be controlled and playless hands. Don't be tempted to play hunches, sit tight and waitfor the good hands then play them aggressively. A good rule ofthumb is to throw away any hand that contains a card that'slower than an eight.

4. Use your table position.

If you are first or second in the betting, a King 10 isn't avery good hand. There are nine players to follow you and if anyof them have a pair or an Ace or a King with Queen or Jack thenyou are struggling. However if you are at the end of the bettingand you can "limp in" with a call or check, then your KT becomesan altogether better prospect. Nobody has raised yet so yourKing might be good and it is certainly worth seeing the flop.

5. Vary your play.

Although you need to be patient and wait for a good hand, don'tbecome too predictable. If you only play the big hands andalways raise then your opponents will simply back down and letyou take the blinds. The trouble with this is you won't bewinning enough in blinds to keep your head above water as youare playing too few hands. You need to vary your style of playand become hard to read.

6. Avoid bluffing.

Bluffing should be avoided, except on very rare occasions. Asthere are always ten people at the table there is a very highchance that someone will have a good hand each time

and willwant to go against you, even if you go all in. All in on a bluffis almost suicidal at the online freerolls, there's nearlyalways somebody prepared to call you and you have little chanceof surviving.

About the author:Article by Ian McIntosh of www.Love-Texas-Holdem.com. Check out the site for all the latest information on TexasHoldem tournaments and poker freerolls. Please feel free to use this article onyour website, newsletter or blog as long as this resource box isleft intact and there's a live link to the site.