How to win freeroll tournaments

Many of the bigger poker rooms run freeroll tournaments where the prize is the buy-in to a paid tournament. Sometimes freerolls are used as qualifiers for satellites for prestigious tournaments such as the World Series of Poker or the European Poker Tour. Freeroll tournaments are hotly contested. Registration usually fills up well in advance, and you need to be very skilled to stand a chance of winning.

The first few minutes of a freeroll tournament can be pretty rocky. While the blinds are low you should play fairly tight and let the tables settle down. Since the tournaments are free, they attract many inexperienced players who tend to play crazy. Let those players wipe each other out, and stay out of the battle unless you're sure you can scoop the pot. There's no point playing fancy against that kind of player, they'll miss the point entirely, and you risk losing everything.

Once the table settles down and you have a feel for the people you're playing with, it's time to get a bit more aggressive. Remember that the blinds are constantly increasing, if you play simply to survive you'll end up crippling yourself. Don't risk everything for no reason, but don't psych yourself out of big pots. Eliminations usually come in thick and fast in the early stages, but once the field narrows down the pace of play might slow down a little. This means that if you are serious about winning, you should make sure that you are going to be around to see the tournament out. Set aside a good few hours for the tournament, and make sure you're fresh, awake, and distraction free.