If you’ve cashed, congratulations. Now you should be trying to win. There’s very little difference, usually, between the lower cash positions. Payouts are often top-heavy and of course in satellite freerolls seats to the next or final stage are often very few. So you should be playing with the idea of reaching the final table at least and not limping into the minor places. Usually you won't see a good payout compared to the amount of hours invested in the freeroll until you hit the final table. If you’re short stacked, push and push early. Laddering by waiting for a few more people isn’t worth it in terms of additional money. Get your chips in try to get to the top nine. If you have a big stack, don’t sit on your chips, but don’t be complacent either. A huge part of getting to the final table is knowing how and when to make moves. The blinds are becoming very large and one mistake can send you out of the freeroll. Relying on your cards, however, is not going to take you to the final table.
Let's go over the few possible situations you can encounter at this point:
Very short stacked This means you are going to be all-in by the next round of blinds or near bet. There are only two options open for you folding or going all-in. Fold if you see that the remaining players are battling among themselves (and not considering you as a threat). Go all-in with every pocket pair or high face card and if no one has gone all-in before you. At this point you have nothing to lose so bet aggressively as you can.
Short stacked You have a couple of new options with this relatively higher stack. In this position you can afford yourself to be a bit pickier with the hands you play. Remember that any move you make will require a big raise or going all-in. Before raising see who already called the hand, the bigger stacks or the short stacks. Remember that it is easier to raise a hand in an early position than call it from a later position. Generally limp into pots only if you are trying to squeeze someone for his last chips or if there are two or more other limpers.
Medium stack This is quite a comfortable position. You can afford yourself to either play like a maniac or play tight as a rock. If you are choosing to play tight you can use the same basic strategy for a short stack but with bigger raises and more aggression. Raise or call every hand you play without hesitation. In conclusion fold with every hand that has very few possible outs but otherwise play with aggression and bully shorter stacks. Playing like a maniac is a less favorable path but it can be very useful under one condition : an extremely tight table. If all other players play tight go wild.
Large stack Bully the shorter stacks. If you manage to get them all-in then strive to get them heads-up. If someone limps into the flop, punish them and raise. Do not call big raises of this sort unless you have strong cards. It is ideal to be either the first aggressor.Set the pace or dominate the hand.
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