Do freerolls develop real skill?

I'm fairly new to the non-play money world of online poker and my question is, how well do you think 1000+ person freerolls work for developing a players skill to be successful in sitngo's. ie: If I can consistently place in the top 100 of a 1000 player freeroll am I doing well enough to start placing ITM in a $6+1 sitngo? Or should I just start playing sitngo's and forget about freerolls?

freerolls can develope some skill but they are just mainly who can win more coin flips. stop playing freerolls if you can. is there anything lower than 6+1? if there is i think you should start lower because its going to be a lot different than freerolls.

Well, I've seen $3+.50 but they are speed tourneys and I'm not too sure I'm down with blinds raising every 5 mins because I try to play tight right off the bat.

no turbos are like freerolls too much luck. you can start at 6 + 1
but i would be nice if you could find some 1 or 2 dollar SNG's.

Ultimate Bet has $1 + $0.10 normal length SNGs.
And the tourney structure is very good as well (1500 starting chips, 15/30 starting blinds).

The players are average.

stars has $1 + 0.20 SnGs of all sorts of types too.

As far as free rolls go i think the strategy is similar to rippys rebuy MTT guide so it can be useful to develop useful skills. Since they are free to enter and the prizes are crap until you get really far into the money (i.e. final table) I think you need to basically spend the first hour trying to double up or bust as many times as possible. AKo = allin preflop. A high flush draw on the flop (against a couple of other players) = allin on the flop. If you bust you have lost nothing and if you double up a few times you might stand a chance of winning a decent prize in the tournament.

Originally Posted by Pelion

stars has $1 + 0.20 SnGs of all sorts of types too.

As far as free rolls go i think the strategy is similar to rippys rebuy MTT guide so it can be useful to develop useful skills. Since they are free to enter and the prizes are crap until you get really far into the money (i.e. final table) I think you need to basically spend the first hour trying to double up or bust as many times as possible. AKo = allin preflop. A high flush draw on the flop (against a couple of other players) = allin on the flop. If you bust you have lost nothing and if you double up a few times you might stand a chance of winning a decent prize in the tournament.

Thats true ive been playing them! (dont ask)

I actually disagree here. Freeroles are ok providing they offer you a real prize at the end, not just $10 for 1st and $1 for15th in a 1000 field. I started at prima, specifically bet365 where the freerole selection is good, plus they have low buy in sngs, so consider that. But id only be playing freeroles if the prizes are worth it. If you stick to a tagg style if those prizes are good then you stand a reasonably good chance (more than some might expect!) of making some money from them

ive just got too fed up of playing a couple of hours of a freeroll then busting out in the top few and winning $0.42 for my troubles. Id rather double up early and risk busting without wasting time playing solid for hours and coming out with a crappy prize.

This is sort of related, I think.

I've been playing one or two 1buck freeze out tournies per week at Paradise, and I'm wondering if those are good for improving my skills?

Like Pelion, I wonder, too, at the time invested for the return. I've played at least a dozen over the last two months and my best finish was 36th out of 955. Sounds all right, but the prize was three bucks!

That took 2.5 hours. I reckon that triple tabling at my $2 tables over 2.5 hours, I would've done the same or better. Top prizes are all right, though, but it's tough to break into the top 10%, and you need to make it to the top 5 PLAYERS to see some real profits.

Is it more worthwhile to play 5 + 1's? I'm leary of putting up 3 buy-ins for a chance at losing it all on one bad beat.

Freeze outs have to be played like a "proper" tournament whatever the buyin because you have to pay a buyin and the prizes come from that buyin. The reason i think freerolls should be played so overly aggressivly ios because they are free to enter and you can afford to go out in the first 5 minutes for literally years until you get lucky and win one for a couple of hundred dollars or what ever the prize is.
If you can only finish 36th in a $2 MTT then you probably won't get that high in a $5. I think it would be best for you (being primarily a cash player) to play cash games and just play the occasional MTT for a change and for fun and just play solid poker (with plenty of stealing once the blinds get big). In big fields like that you can't really focus on where you finish. The difference between winning and finishing with nothing is often just a couple of cointoss hands. Just play your best and after a while you might win one.... then you have to wait a while before you win another.

Yes. You may only be puting $1 into the tourny but taking $3 out is actually a 200% roi, which while the amount is nothing the stats are significant. While the quality of play may not be as good as higher buy in mtts i think they're is no reason why you shouldnt be playing in these. One nice run of cards and an FT and your bankroll could be significantly improved. One of the early ways i improved my bankroll was thouh a big cash at both a freerole ($80) which was a lot to a $300 roll and then a $2 Freezout win for about $300. I basically doubles my roll in 2 days through 2 good finishes. So guys, id stick to it. If you develop good mtt skills and habits now and play corectly or to win then that can do you no harm. The figures might not be a lot but even if you enter a 100+5 freezeout and make the money you may only get 300 back which may seem a lot of money to some of us at the moment but is infact not much to someone who can afford that sort of game. Its also still 200% roi so there is no difference.

Oh, yeah, I hear ya on the coin toss aspect. I truly believe that once you get past the first half, a tourney is pretty much 90% luck. I don't care what anyone says, it is. Full stop (period, depending on your English).

However, I wasn't clear with my question. By 5 + 1 I meant Sit n' Go.

Is it worth my while to try those instead of the $1 MTT which ususally has around 800 to 1000 players?

I do see Miffed's point, though, and for a buck it is all good fun at the very least. A lot more exciting when you make it into the money than playing in the monotonous ring games I play. Even if you only do make a few cents.

if you have the bankroll then go ahead and try it. If you suck stop, if you don't then carry on and build that BR.

But Pelion, it's only a buck entry fee. Not exactly depleting my 'roll if I play two a week.

The problem with MTT's is knowing if you're really bad or just having bad luck.

I get a chance to play some different players, though, and play a bit different myself.

Originally Posted by Jiggus

But Pelion, it's only a buck entry fee. Not exactly depleting my 'roll if I play two a week.

The problem with MTT's is knowing if you're really bad or just having bad luck.

I get a chance to play some different players, though, and play a bit different myself.

i ment for the $5 SnGs

Yeah, oops for that. I realised it on my way to work yesterday morning.