I
have recently had the opportunity to play in a series
of freeroll tournaments, and it has really helped
me practice my skills at changing my playing style
in the middle of a game, or "on the fly."
The ability to adjust your play quickly to changing
circumstances is very important to your long-term
profit in any form of poker, as your opponents may
change the way they are playing and new players
will replace the ones who leave, often creating
an entirely different game.
Using
freeroll play as an example, the play in the early rounds
tends to be very loose and borderline maniacal at times,
while reverting to tight and aggressive in the later
rounds. There are different theories about how to play
in these situations, but the best way is whatever works
best for you. You need to find the best strategy that
complements your overall playing style in every situation.
Just because one strategy works best for a player does
not mean that it will work well for you. The strategy
that works best for me is to play very tight in the
early rounds and a little looser in the later rounds.
When
the game is very loose, the likelihood of receiving
a bad beat goes up, so my goal is to only enter
hands with a large advantage. Even hands as strong
as QQ, KK and AA often get beat against three or
more opponents, so if four or more people are seeing
every flop, I am very careful about what I enter
the pot with and what I will continue playing after
the flop. After all of the maniacs have been eliminated,
and especially when it is close to the bubble, I
tend to loosen up a bit because many players tighten
up to attempt to slip into the money. Often playing
aggressively at this point can get many opponents
to fold better hands.
Work on adjusting your play mid-game, and you will
improve your overall game. One of the best places
to do this is in a freeroll, so jump into one today
and try it out. Until next week, good luck at the
tables!
