Freezeout Poker Tournaments

Poker Freeze Out Tournaments are easily the most popular poker tournaments available online. Every player starts with the same amount of chips, and the player who ends up with all the chips is crowned the winner. Players do not have the option of “re-buyin” or “adding-on” to their stack. Blinds are typically increased every 10-12 minutes in freezeout tournaments, although some of the larger online poker tournaments may increase their blinds at longer intervals.

Freeze Out Strategy

To be a successful tournament player you need to use the correct strategy in the early, middle and late stages of tournaments. Below, I outline my approach to each stage of a freeze out tournament. Read these, think about how you play these stages of the tournament and then implement these strategies into your game to make your freezeout tournament play a force to be reckoned with.

Freeze Out Early Stages

In the beginning stages of freezeout tournaments I like to play an ultra tight game. The first hour of tournaments is when all the fish are still around and a lot of bad beats will occur. In this first hour I will only play premium hands and I will play them aggressively. Many players feel that the early stages are a great chance to see cheap flops and this does have some truth about it. The problem with playing more hands in the first hour is the weaker players will call you down a lot more than normal. There will be more players in the hand which means more players will be on draws. Stick to a tight game early on and you will still get at least one double up in most cases and progress to the middle stages a lot more often.

Freeze Out Middle Stages

The middle stages of freezeout is when you can play your natural game. A fair portion of the weaker players have been knocked out and you can settle into a nice rhythm. The blinds start to increase and you have to start thinking more about what is going on at the table. You can begin to pull off a few bluffs in this stage, steal blinds and semi-bluffs also work well. This is where you want to start to loosen up and accumulate a good chip stack for the later stages of the tournament. The cash places will also be in this period so make sure you keep an eye out for the players that tighten up to sneak into the money and play aggressive against them.

Late Stages Freeze Out

This is where all the big money is won and lost and can make you an average tournament player or a successful one. You will find that there will be a lot of action preflop, with all-ins and reraises not uncommon at all. You have to be prepared to get all of you chips in the middle during these stages otherwise the huge blinds will eat your chips away. An aggressive style of play at this point in the tournament is of paramount importance. Don’t play loose, but make sure when you have a hand you play it aggressively. There is a lot of chips and stake and each pot is well worth the effort. As you approach the final table are on the final table itself, be wary of the players tightening up and avoiding trouble. You can get a free ride off these players, especially on their big blind. The final table is the time to be thinking about the table dynamics and position yourself to give yourself and advantage of your opponents.

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