Freeroll, early rounds, "heads up" out of position with 8 ghosts (LC)

[Albert Moulton]

I like playing party freerolls, typically 8500 players with $300 prize pool. Blinds start at 30/60 with T3000. Winner gets about $60, and 220th gets about .20.

Frequently early rounds have players 2that register but don't bother to show up, so I find myself playing one player with the other 8 avatars auto-posting blinds and folding. So, if the only other actual player is one seat to the left, then I'm out of position every hand for about an hour until the others get blinded out.

My question is how to adjust to being permanently out of position for most of the first hour. Blinds increase about every 10 minutes.

For example, playing a lot of hands for a limp usually get raised, and then I'm playing out of position for a lot of decent sized pots with marginal hands.

If I raise every hand I play, and only play above-average hands (any Ace, 2 cards higher than T, any pair, etc), I still end up out of position with a lot of marginal hands.

If I just play as tight as I would UTG at a full table, I give up all the dead blinds and let villain collect all the blinds as I wait for decent starting cards.

As a general rule, what appoach is best being out of position like this for the first hour of an MTT?

[boo5000]

trade blinds with the other live players until you have 5...