How do you go from Freerolls to Real Money Tournaments?

[lstrel]

Hi Everyone,

I have been playing freerolls for a couple of years. I have started winning a little here and there, but as soon as I start using that money in cash tournaments all the rules that I knew from playing freerolls went out the window. Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to play in these cash tournaments? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[david4444]

hey, first there is huge diferent between freerolls tournaments and regular ones
you have to know that people playing very diferent when they risking there own money.
usually in freerolls the players playing very loose agresive poker, a lot of them are what we call "donks" a bad players with no actually experience, they base there game only on luck,
usually this players try to double up immediately with any two cards or with any A.
in a regular tournaments you need to play tighter then you used to play in a freerolls in my
opinion.
this are very basic things that i wrote you and hope it will direct you a little in your new way
good luck mate...

[RiverstarsVictim]

There's not a lot of difference between freerolls and low buy-in tournaments, the problem is you aren't bankrolled for them.

Being in Canada I think you have access to many sites? It's possible to grind freerolls on many sites simultaneously and build bankrolls big enough to start grinding the micros on each individual site. Just dont go wasting the couple of $$ you win here and there. A good place to build a BR quickly is on one of the many Boss Media sites, playing 5 raked hands gives you access to 4-5 different freerolls a day (you can usually enter for 2 days running) where many enter but sit out. If you choose this route (grinding many sites simultaneously), be careful which sites you sign up for, you dont want to be losing future rakeback deals and 1st time deposit bonuses.

[ballboy75]

well, i used to be tehre myself, until i won some money and withdrew it all out.
im now in your shoes again, as im frerolling until I deposit this upcoming week.
I can help you, along with many others in this forum, but first, give us some backround about yourself.
whats your current BR? what freerolls did you play? did you win? what tournaments did you try for real money?


the more information you give, the better advice you shall recieve.
thats usually the rule of thumb in here.

[travz21]

Just play good and get lucky. That's all you have to do in any game you play.

[lstrel]

Thanks for all of your replies, I will try some of the strategies!

[teddykgb47]

Try playing some cash games first, this will actually help you improve your tournament play, especially if you are at a beginner level. After you've gotten some cash games experience on the micro stakes, read a book about playing tournaments, like one of Harrington's books for example.