An example of a negative freeroll would include Player A who has JT of diamonds who goes all in against Player B who also has JT but not suited. The flop was J42 with two diamonds. Since both players are all in, we know that Player A can improve to a flush. Player B can only hope to chop, thus, is on a negative freeroll. Negative Freeroll. January 2021 admin. I once asked Naka on stream why he didn’t play the Najdorf anymore. He answered that it simply wasn’t worth the effort. If you play the Najdorf you have to prepared extremely well in every single line just to make a draw and if you get surprised by your opponent chances are very high in such a.

• Negative Free Rolled
• Negative Free Roll
• Negative Free Rolling
• Negative Free Roller Coaster
• Negative Free Roll Urban Dictionary

In poker, a freeroll tournament is a tournament with no entry fee, and a freeroll hand is where a player is guaranteed to at least split the pot with his opponent, with a chance they can win the whole pot if certain final cards are dealt.

Freeroll hand[edit]

In playing a particular hand of poker, a freeroll is a situation that arises (usually when only two players remain) before the last card has been dealt, in which one player is guaranteed to at least split the pot with his opponent no matter what the final cards are, but where there is some chance he can win the whole pot if certain final cards are dealt. This most commonly occurs in a high-low split game where one player knows that he has a guaranteed low hand made, his opponent cannot make a better low no matter what the last card is, but the player who is low might possibly catch a lucky card that gives him a straight or flush, winning high as well.

Here's an example from Texas hold'em: Angie holds K♣10♣, and Burt holds K♥10♥. After the fourth card is dealt, the board is A♣Q♦J♥4♣. Both players have an ace-high straight, the current nut hand, and so they will most likely split the pot. But if the final card happens to be a club, Burt's straight will lose to Angie's flush. There is no other possible final card that will give Burt more than a straight; only Angie can improve, so she is freerolling Burt.

If a player knows he has a freeroll, he can raise the pot with impunity, and often a less-skilled opponent with a good hand who does not realize that he is on the wrong end of the freeroll will continue to put in raises with no possible hope of gain.

Freeroll tournament[edit]

A freeroll tournament is a tournament with no entry fee, although some freerolls require a payment at some point to gain entry to the tournament.

In a typical pay-to-play tournament, the prize pool consists of an accumulation of the entry fees minus a 'fee' which is retained by the house. In a freeroll (at least from the players' perspective) the prize pool is essentially a 'donation' provided by the house. Of course, in most freerolls the house is able defray a significant portion of the prize pool (or even turn a profit) by charging for food and beverages, sponsorship fees, admission to spectators, broadcast rights fees, or any combination of these. Sometimes a particular cardroom or casino (either traditional or online) will offer a freeroll tournament to frequent players. Invitation-only tournaments are frequently freerolls.

Freerolls at Internet poker sites should not be confused with their close counterpart -- play money tournaments. Freerolls are different from play-money tournaments in two respects. Play money tournaments usually require the 'payment' of play money and the tournament winnings are play money. Freeroll tournaments can be genuinely free, may require a payment of points (from a point system developed by the site), or on some occasions require a deposit of funds into the player's account. The winnings are either real money, points, merchandise or entry tickets (invitations) to other tournaments.

Most if not all Internet poker sites have freeroll tournaments although in many cases require a payment of points to play. These points typically can only be earned by paying and playing real money hands which in essence is a payment required to play their 'freerolls' and therefore a loose use of the term 'freeroll'. There are Internet sites that allow playing in freerolls without payment of any kind and with the chance to win real money.

It is not unusual to pay to play in a feeder tournament that gives the winner(s) a free entry to another tournament but it is debatable whether these second level tournaments can be called 'freerolls', since they require a buy-in, albeit smaller than the major tournament one. More often, such tournaments are called 'satellites'. This format is typical of freeroll tournaments both on the Internet and in the 'brick and mortar' sites.

The Professional Poker Tour is one such 'freeroll', with entrants being required to qualify through their results in previous tournaments. Sponsorship and broadcast-rights fees fund the prize pools.

Freeroll tournaments are not exclusive to poker. Casinos frequently offer them to frequent and/or high-value players in games such as craps, blackjack, video poker and slot machines.

Negative Free Rolled

Origin of the term[edit]

Many believe the term comes from early 1950s Las Vegas, when guests would often be given a 'free roll' of nickels to play at the slot machines upon check-in. Guests would often ask for their 'free rolls' and the words became fused together and expanded to mean any complimentary gaming bonus.

See also[edit]

Multi-way pots expand rapidly, sometimes even when caution prevails. That's the nature of these multi-headed beasts — they cannot easily be tamed.

But as the following hand illustrates all too well, you don't have to run headlong into the jaws when multiple players are vying for a pot postflop.

Preflop Mania, and Probabilities

The game was $0.50/$1 no-limit hold'em (100NL), played online, and the hand began with the under-the-gun player opening to 2.2 big blinds. The cutoff three-bet to $3.50, the button cold-called the reraise, and both blinds and the original raiser called as well. Five-way to the flop!

That flop came .

When there is a flopped flush draw multi-way and multiple players seem to want to continue, it is not unreasonable to put someone on a flush draw.

Try thinking about it like this. If you don't have a blocker, there are 11 unseen cards of the suit, two of which might well be in someone's hand. When two players show interest in such a flop, both could have a made hand, one or the other could be drawing, or both could be drawing. Moreover, when multiple players are wanting to continue, marginal made hands usually fall by the wayside, while a draw to something stronger than the best made hand can continue.

In this particular hand, four of the five players would put money into the pot on that flop. The big blind led out for $8, was called twice, and then raised by the button to $32.

We don't know for sure that one of these four players has a flush draw, but what we are figuring instead is the chance for all of them not to have one.

Then There Were Two

The big blind called the button's raise and the two players who had gotten everything started, the initial raiser and the three-bettor in the cutoff, got out of the way. Heads up to a turn.

The big blind decided to lead out $47.50 into a pot that was $95, with $250 effective behind. This seems like a mistake with just about any hand.

First and foremost, the big blind's bet opens the action for a shove, so if the button raised the flop with a big made hand like or , he has the chance now to shut out any draws.

But consider if the button has a draw himself — he can just call now, for a great price, with deep stacks in play going to the river. The button doesn't lose his positional advantage, nor is he being overcharged with this half-pot lead.

No matter what the individual matchup in hands, then, and thus, no matter what the matchup in ranges, this bet size from the out-of-position big blind allows the button to play well and comfortably — things you never want to encourage your opponent to do.

The button called.

Dirty River

The river card was the fateful , making for a final board of . The big blind made a pot-sized bet of $190 and the button immediately shoved for the remaining $60 because he had rivered the nuts with . The big blind had thought he had gotten there with on an ace-high board, but had backed into a straight that was no good. He called off for the rest and the button scooped an enormous, nearly 700-BB pot.

Now what went wrong?

Most obviously the big blind cannot trap preflop in this spot with kings, with the potential for a five-way flop, out of position. The big blind's equity is so far from a lock against four other players the preflop decision not to put in a cold four-bet is a large mistake.

Negative Free Roll

Subsequent to that mistake the big blind saw an ace-high flop — the exact flop he didn't want to see given that preflop decision — yet he bet out into it, anyway, and then called a raise.

The button took the decision to play his pair of tens and nut-flush draw fast, with deep stacks, position, and equity that could not be dominated. It is hard to see too much fault in that given that a third club's appearance will often slow the action.

Negative Free Rolling

These are old familiar lessons. Don't get too attached to your preflop hand after the flop. Don't inflate pots with marginal hands out of position, particularly when they are multi-way.

Negative Free Roller Coaster

But look at the river decision from big blind's perspective.

The flush gets there and the big blind had two kings in hand. On a board of , what was the big blind hoping to get called by that would not have shoved the turn?

Negative Free Roll Urban Dictionary

If button had on the turn and called, he would fold this river. If the button had , he probably shove the turn. It is hard to get a crying call for a pot-sized river bet, but it is easy to be called by a chop, and the big blind will always be called by a flush.

Putting $250 in the middle on this river in this exact situation was effectively a 'negative freeroll' — nothing more to win, and (potentially) a lot more to lose.

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