Freeroll Tournaments — Part IV

This is the fourth of our articles on Las Vegas-type freeroll tournaments. These events have very fast intervals between raising the blinds, and they are normally played without an ante to supplement the blinds. Jim Brier, Bob Ciaffone’s co-author of Middle Limit Holdem Poker, is a regular player in these events.

This article will discuss flop play. Blinds rise so quickly in freeroll events that after a short time, the last two betting rounds practically cease to exist. The betting nearly always occurs preflop and on the flop.

There is a saying among Vegas limit hold’em cash-game players: “Trying to make big laydowns on the river is not the way to make money in limit hold’em.” A similar statement can be said about freeroll tournaments on the flop. You will often have a large portion of your stack already in the pot, and you are facing only one opponent. If you fold on the flop in that situation, your stack is frequently decimated, putting you in desperate straits. Good hands are scarce in freerolls, and good flops are even scarcer. You will not have many opportunities to win a big pot by virtue of hand strength alone. On the other hand, there still are opportunities to gather some chips.

Loose-aggressive players frequently take shots when they flop nothing but a draw, hoping to get you to fold a better hand. Folding the best hand on the flop is often a minor mistake in a cash game, when only a small portion of your stack is lost. But in freerolls, throwing away the best hand on the flop, even when the pot is heads up from the start, represents the loss of a major opportunity to stay competitive in the tournament.

Complete hands — such as a full house, flush, or straight — seldom should be folded. When all you have in chips is something like 30 times the big blind or less, by the time you find out that someone has a hand he really likes, you will probably have so many chips committed that the rest need to go into the pot. You should hope that your opponent does not have the hand his betting represents rather than giving up a big hunk of your stack by folding.

Two pair or a set are also premium hands, especially in an event in which the blind structure is raised rapidly. A set is only a 7-4 underdog to fill, so if you are worried about the possibility of someone having a straight or a flush, my tendency would be to put the money into the pot and hope to fill if I am behind.

Two pair is a tough hand to improve — and a difficult hand to give good advice for. Mark Twain said that learning how to play two pair is as difficult as completing a college education — but worth about as much. The texture of the board should have a lot to do wiith whether you are willing to commit all of your money.

I am reluctant in a cash game to back a big overpair or top pair for my whole stack, which will normally be in the 80-big-blinds to 200-big-blinds range. With the typical stack size in a freeroll tournament of 30 big blinds or less, I am much braver. You should rarely fold an overpair unless the board is seriously threatening. Your opponent probably is going to play any flush draw or straight draw aggressively, so a solid hand usually makes you grit your teeth and put all of your money into the pot. Do not wait to “take off a safe card.” Your opponent might not have the draw you put him on. If he is willing to play for all of his money on the flop, put the chips in and pray.

Here are a few things to be mindful of regarding flop play in a freeroll tournament (or most tournaments in which the blind structure goes up every 15 minutes or so):

Heads-Up Play: Against an opponent

who is a stranger to you and is the only person besides yourself to see the flop, a big laydown is unwise. First, it is not very easy for a single opponent to flop a premium hand such as two pair or a set. Second, a single opponent tends to play more aggressively and trickily, because you may not be able to take the heat. (It is hard for you to catch a big hand, just as it his hard for him to catch a big hand). There is not the presence of one or more other players to influence him to play with caution. Third, you are the only obstacle between him and the pot, so he may think it is worth running a risk to try to get you to fold. Lastly, there is a macho element to heads-up pots that is much more intense than with multiple opponents — particularly if you are known to be a good poker player.

Multiple Opponents: It is much harder to get two or more opponents to fold than it is to get a single opponent out. Every opponent added to the pot exponentially increases the chance that someone will hit a strong hand on the flop. If someone leads out with a large bet into more than one opponent, you need a good hand to play. Without at least top pair/top kicker or a really good draw, you often should fold. Not only is the player leading into a field, but you may find yourself sandwiched between a better hand and a better draw. It can be devastating to call a significant bet and then be forced to call a raise because you are pot-committed, only to find out that you had hardly any chance to win.

Flop Textures: Beware of single-suited flops or flops with three cards all touching in rank. Even combinations of two-flushes with two cards sequenced or two-flushes with two Broadway cards are highly dangerous and frequently mean big made hands or big draws. Do not put a large portion of your stack at risk when the flop is particularly dangerous. Top pair and even two-pair hands are quite vulnerable to either being already beat or being outdrawn. How you react will depend upon your chip stack. With a short stack or a mini-stack, you may not have a choice but to play, but with standard stack, you need to consider folding if you encounter aggression.

Playing Against Another Big Stack: If you have a big stack, you should prefer to avoid getting into a major confrontation with another big stack. This is especially true when you are close to the point where the prize pool is likely to be chopped. Don’t get involved unless you have a strong hand. If you make a big raise and get called by another big stack who has position on you, you need to be highly concerned. Don’t let yourself get crippled by making expensive continuation-bets. Don’t get yourself pot-committed having only a draw. ♠

Bob Ciaffone has authored four poker books, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Poker. All can be ordered (autographed to you) from Bob by e-mail: [email protected]. Free U.S. shipping to Card Player readers. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons at a reasonable rate. His website is www.pokercoach.us, where you can get his rulebook, Robert’s Rules of Poker, for free. Bob also has a website called www.fairlawsonpoker.org.