Do you ever think FR's are not worth the time?

I spent 4 hours today in ixgames.com $50 FR and finished in 24th place for .16 cents.... thats 4 cents an hour... hobos make more than that.

Just my two cents worth... any other opinions?

Ok 0.16$ doesn't seem worth the effort.

But every time I win a freeroll and beat 1499 - 2699 people I think it's worth it.

(I only play occasionly because I usually play with the money I won in the past )

Maybe you should take freerolls as cheap mtt training session.

If you can beat 1K there you could be able to beat 100 at the micro buy-in mtts ?

Don't get frustrated - congrats on cashing.

People play MTT's for play money. They do it for fun.
So if you're playing the freeroll for fun, the $.16 is just gravy and the game is a good investment.

If you're playing freerolls exclusively to make money, and you are a winning player, and you can deposit, freerolls are a mistake. You can make money a *lot* faster by playing real money games instead.

I think freerolls pay you off better with experience, not the money. So for beginners who want to learn the game, yes freerolls are worth it.

if nothing else, they're a good way to blow off a few hours sometimes...good way to get in lots of hands for no risk...and yeah, sometimes the payoff is minimal at best but every penny helps if you're trying to start a bank without depositing. just don't let them form bad habits in your game. those freerolls that are open to the public with thousands of people playing are chaotic and just cashing some of them can mean you really were playing well and should feel pretty good about it. if you're not going to deposit though, just sit on that 16 cents and keep freerolling

no

I am a "no deposit" player..., i need freerolls to feed my bankroll...
About the only times i think that a freeroll wasnt worth the time is when i donk myself out on the bubble..., that really sucks...
for the rest, every cent won in those helps me play another buyin tourney.
GL

aC

freerolls with small cash prize pools arnt really worth it but i dont play them for the money i play them for the satisfaction knowing that ive outlasted a large number of people

Every other day...lol, but we keep doing it.

Even buy-in MTTs are likely to disappoint you if you just make it to

cashing. All the money is generally in the top 3 spots and the biggest

chunk goes to the eventual winner.

If you are going to count your hours of play and compare it to your

winnings,then you will likely be discouraged with freerolls.

If you realize that freerolls are a great training aid,and your bankroll

doesn't go backwards when you don't cash, but you have a chance to

win,then you have it in the proper perspective.

Freerolls are +EV, excluding your time,and if you want paid for your

time,then getting a job,or another job,would be the better way to go imo

Also imagine if you had to buy-in for a minimium of say $5 per MTT, to

learn to play this great game.It would likely be quite expensive for you

until you got that 1st big win.

This is why in MTTs,you should always play to win the whole tourney!



Snow

Its free so its gotta be hard. Move in to full tilt or another site, freerolls there give $1 or $2 min. but they fill out in 20 seconds with 2700 ppl.

cash is cash,any positive gain is a good gain

No, the one and only reason to play a freeroll, other than the CC ones, is to open shove every hand for fun until you bust out.

^^this

Well here is my 2 cents. I began playing Full Tilt the 1st time after making a $50 deposit. I SWIFTLY lost it all. I then decided that I would play freerolls for fun. Eventually I was able to win one for $15 dollars over a year ago. I have since cashed out twice for over $1100 and still have enough money in my account to play. I eventually hope to turn that into a huge bankroll. My point is to not give up on freerolls. Even a few cents can be turned into something. While I think freeroll play at the early stages is a Donk race, later in the game is where I really started to learn how to play MTTs. And the more you learn the more you win. GL on the felts.

[ ] Pokerstars donkaments just to get into another tournament.
[ ] Fulltilt 2700 player 10% pay
[x] Private freerolls (smaller fields, better overlay)

IMO.

Too much freerolling is a grind for little return; once in a while OK (forums for instance) but the huge ones are such a looooongggggg zzzzzzz.

Like anything, you need money to make any real money.

All depends on what you're playing them for. If you play for fun and you had a good time during those four hours then it was time well spent.

There are certainly some freerolls that offer better value than others though. If you're trying to freeroll your way to the start of a bankroll, for example, I'd definitely be looking for different games. The bigger the prize pool and the smaller the field the better - often you'll have to qualify for them in some way but that'll often be a better use of your time than grinding fields of thousands of players when there's only two figures on offer for the whole prize pool.

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Results for PokerStars Tournament 196479573Monday, September 21, 2009 9:03 AM
From: "PokerStars Support" <support@pokerstars.com>Add sender to Contacts
To:

PokerStars Tournament #196479573, No Limit Hold'em
Freeroll Super Satellite
9000 players
Target Tournament #196479226
72 tickets to the target tournament

Tournament started 2009/09/20 23:22:00 ET


Dear istan,

You finished the tournament in 4th place.

This qualifies you for a seat in Tournament #196479226. A ticket to this tournament was issued in your name. You can use this ticket to register. See Tournament #196479226 Lobby for further details.

I had a great time playing this tourney but Saturday mourning for the next tourney that early in the mourning is going to be hell .. But at least I have a good chance of winning more than 16 cents... P.S to arahel_jazz I played solid to get the final table

Depends on the prize pool and its distribution, there are some decent and really good FR's.

Unless absolutely need the $, or to play to get more experience in small ones (They are good to test out different things) are not worth it.

I am now into the 11th week of EVER playing poker...I generally play in Freerolls because I'm still learning the rules, because I love it & I really like the fact that I'm pitting my brain against someone else! I've cashed once at Carbon Poker in the Carbon Twitter Freeroll & won the ticket to the Daily Dollar the 1st time I tried it at Fulltilt! Freerolls through Cardschat are the most fun though, because I'm getting to know other CC members & most really do know how to play Poker!
I want to eventually build my bankroll at each site so I can start playing buy-ins.

Freerolls are totally worth it if you get in the right kind. I prefer the freerolls at FTP which have been mentioned. CC ones would be worth it for me if I could boost my quota + get the schedule right. It kinda sucks that I'm probably the only member who could really use the freerolls but just can't get the quota + schedule right. It's okay though cuz I came for the articles anyway.

I go for a good effort to reward ratio so I avoid the sucker-freerolls like the plague. Believe it or not there are sucker freerolls. When 3k+ enter and only 3 get paid, it's a sucker freeroll. When the payout's set up so that even pushing to the final table hardly pays because of a whole bunch of people winning 10c they can't even use to buy-in with, it's a sucker freeroll. When it's set up to make me play my absolute worst to tie with 100-200 other players, imho it's a sucker freeroll. The only exception would be those Mike The Mouth freerolls about a month or two back, where you could win a copy of his book just by making it to the final table and win a signed copy by winning. That imho is pretty cool.

All in all freerolls are free tournament practice combined with virtual theater of the absurd with a wonderfully low $0 admission fee. Last one I entered I won so haven't played in them since as it's wiser at the moment to focus on collecting points in ring games than playing in even the funnest of freerolls or even cash tournaments. I'm just a few short minutes to minutes to my next $10 reward for patience and nothing more.

The great thing about the last freeroll was that it was the evening PLO at FTP. That thing's beyond awesome as are all the "alternative" games freerolls. Don't get me wrong I can final table in NLHE ones too, but these "alternative" FR's are beyond entertaining. I mean, where else are ya gonna find folks who read about 1/4 of a brief tutorial of the game 3 minutes before the tournament started, but insist on calling everyone else donkeys? It got even more funny when a guy who's destined to be a loser for the rest of his life nursed a short stack while whining and threatening people during the entire bubble period. He was all "Just as soon as I get my $2 I'm gonna really up my game and kick your asses" but alas, how was he gonna do it without any ammo? I mean really, $2? Hilarious.

Then you get the razz and h.o.r.s.e. freerolls. Those things are a hoot. People whining "But I had AK" in h. Oh and the "Even an idiot gets lucky" after they let you catch up in a stud game, but oh heaven forbid you should be keeping track of the cards. It just gets funnier and funnier. Don't get me started on o. "but I had A2 and they was suited", or "but I had KK" nevermind the 72os for kickers giving them a half good rainbow hand from hell that they shouldn't have called a raise and a reraise with ihn the first place...

The only bad thing is the occasional loss of focus from laughing so hard. Not for nothing but those things are really entertaining. I'd almost pay to enter one. But then it wouldn't be a freeroll now would it?

absolutely agree with that.even nothing got,freeroll can save you a lot of tuition.so experience also means money.

you should be a fight promoter you know how to take whats their and make it into a soap opera lol... fun reading though..

U can turn freerolls in to big money, i won a freeroll on bodog and turned it into a cash out of 1400. that aint bad for a freeroll.

10 % pay???????????????????/

1% pay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but dont worry "MATH IS OVER RATED"

I look at freeroll as training.You should be able to learn something each time you play.If you play mirco it just like playing a freeroll.People go all-in with a gut shot.

When I see FR I think "full ring" so was about to pop in here with a "wtf kind of question is that?" Oops.

I concur that freerolls are good for beginners in-training. And private freerolls like CCs or bonus freerolls like the Ironman ones at FT might be worthwhile and fun. But wide open public freerolls are a grind that just are not worth the time for anybody with a modicum of skill. Unless you're just playing for grins and nothing else, once you understand the basics of the game, how to calc and use odds, etc., then you really need to move out into real money if you want to make money, even if that means a deposit. Just do it.

Staying in public freerolls to better your game won't work beyond the very basic skill level -- you can't outplay people in public freerolls. You'll continue to see bad beat after bad beat, in frustrating frequencies, and you'll find that your sophisticated moves just don't work as they would in a higher real money game. You have no edge, it's just an extremely high-variance luckfest. It can easily lead to frustration with the overall poker experience, because whether for money or not, most people are playing to win. And when you can't consistently win, or show something for it when you do win, then the interest (and improvement) will fade out and die. And note that the penny/micro stakes are about the same as freerolls. You'll have to get up around 25NL at least before you can accumulate a consistent profit, and if you aren't willing to deposit then it's going to take quite a long and frustrating grind to build the proper BR to move to those stakes. I couldn't do it, I was much happier depositing here and there until I could accumulate both the skill and BR to play where I play now. My BR is now pretty much self-sufficient without any need for deposits, but if by some major bad swing I drop below my minimum threshold, I won't think twice about depositing again (assuming I wish to keep playing).

Just my $0.02...

It's a tough way to make a few bucks but fun!

I don't think playing any freerolls are a waste of time if you cash. SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING! Like someone stated in the thread earlier, you can always feed that into another micro stake tournament and hopefully with some more cash-in's you'll be able to move up the ladder to higher stake games with ZERO deposits. Who woulda thunk it?

I used to be a freeroll junkie!!

It built my bankrolls and I am now more selective - though i will still play some.

They educate you to a certain level and can be fun. So hey yes they are great for some people!!

Depends on your goals...if you have no bankroll and literally every penny helps then grind it out.

I AGREE

Like everyone already mentioned above, freerolls are great for a beginner to learn and build a bankroll and every little cash adds up for a buy in (private freerolls are better), but if you got the extra cash to deposit to play poker, than you shouldn't play freerolls unless it's just for fun and move allin every hand.

I think the freerolls are worth it because of the sense of accomplishment if you do make the money. Granted, they can be frustrating and it may seem like the hardest dollar you ever make.

Yes they are worth it. A great way to win money but more importatnly, a way to understand tha game and gamenship of others. So what..... 4 hours later but you won or won part of it.....That is a great feeliing!!!!! all that training you have done and the selective hands you played...it all paid off. Good lick in future endevors.

I disagree with the notion that they're only good for absolute beginners. If you can't afford to deposit enough to withstand the high end of microstakes they're great practice for pennies and dimes. On top of that they're not vastly different from $1 buy in MTTs and sngs.

If you're patient enough to see them as more than all in luckfests from hell, there are a great many opportunities for improving your game.

At a glance your basic everyday freeroll is nothing more than an all-in shovefest full of fish. Look more closely and you really can play even better than you imagined for free.

I taught myself some stuff that's considered advanced, and learned it in freerolls.

They're pretty easy to break down. The first level or two you're almost guaranteed to find yourself in an all-in shove-fest of the lowest order. 10's or better say "F*ck It" and call or reraise all-in pre-flop. Just great odds but with a decent hand? Say "F*ck It" and get the chips in.

That's just the first couple of levels though. Later on and with a good sized stack, well...

I taught myself to float, and taught myself when to really get in the thick of things with 2 opponents(there's a trick to it involving stack sizes and putting opponents on hands but still). I manage to C-bet bluff from time to time. Also I naturally pick up on patterns and the timing tells of some players. Combine those and I will on occasion call you down with J high to A high because I know my nothing's better than your nothing, and you can "bite me loser".

There's a bunch of other stuff I learned from freerolls that I just can't get organized in my head outside of a freeroll, but still, valuable stuff.

On top of all that I learned the most valuable lesson there is for tournament poker. How to spot the fish and beat them. I'm not after my perceived equals or betters until I'm in really deep. I'm just trying to take chips off of inferior players. I could never have spotted them without the practice.

"If you look around the table, and can't spot the fish - chances are you're the fish" Until you have some practice(and free practice kicks butt) you'll always be the fish.

I left something out. I accidentally taught myself to play small ball poker in freerolls. At some point I got around to reading stuff from Daniel Negreanu and spent the whole time muttering "Well Duh!". It's not that I'm anywhere near as good as Daniel, it's just that the concepts were the same for freerolls as the higher levels he was talking about.

For the most part, small ball's the best way to play freerolls. Also, and this might sound weird, but play alot of hands through and outplay your opponent. Trust me, it only feels like they always hit their runner-runner. If you know they'll call all-in to try and hit that runner-runner, it's way smarter to play it through for a lot fewer chips.

And don't be afraid of making mistakes. You can't learn without them. I know I still make them, but I do try to learn from them.

Sounds like you really built a large bankroll from freerolls. What is your current BR?
Just wondering if i should follow your advice, or try to find you at the tables.

LOL, it'd be large if I saved it and didn't venture away from freerolls with less than $100. I've probably won at least that much over a really long period of time, but thing is I keep venturing out into the cash section and getting whooped.

Smart would be to stay in freerolls until I have at least $100. I'm not that smart, I get to itchin' for some cash play and lose my loot.

At least I'm just losing freeroll winnings. Some pros lose a lot more than that with the same bad habit of playing at a particular level without enough loot.

My point was never that you can make a quick and big bankroll off of freerolls, just that they offer a lot more than meets the eye at a glance.

As for the bit about small ball it pays out a lot better, save for hands like AA where it can be tough to small ball and win or pull back a lot of chips. But the great thing is freerolls give you some practice at it and taking advantage of opponents with fewer skills than you.

BTW I'm a weirdo. If I cash at all I'm usually going to the final table, but that was true when I was absolutely clueless too. Thing is, practice in freerolls has me knowing what to do when I get to the final table. That and the cheap R&A's at Cake helped a lot too. They were much nicer than the ones at FTP.

Whoa, don't use what I said about small ball for the turbo freerolls. Won't work. Oops, did I say won't? I just made it work and almost quadrupled up in the one hand. Okay so I got a little lucky too but...

Point is, it can work, it can work very well. It's just that early on there's usually a bunch of folks shoving all-in and you just don't get the chance.

Dang my turbo game's rusty. GL me cuz I forgot a bunch of what I learned. I've been avoiding turbos in general just cuz they're less fun and I have to play them on PokerStars until I save up.

Okay now I'm getting mad-lucky while playing like crap. It's weird. Sorry if I sucked out on you tonight in the turbo. Only thing is one call was from the stupid laptop and I'm so rusty to boot.

I always chalk freerolls 100 dollars or less up to experience...I mean I can relate to the awe to 16 cents for 4 hours but you knew that before the tourny started. I once entered a tourny with 12,000 players and won in 1st place for 12.23 and it took 9 hours!..when you beat a field that huge you naturally expect some kind of reward or recognition.

^^ agreed, although many really aren't worth the time because the experience gained will be of very little value (ie. a typical Fulltilt 2700 player freeroll... or a 'Face The Ace Rd.1'... <<< these games aren't even really poker imo).

Yes, they're worth it! Hello, free money instead of investing your own. Plus, great opportunity to practice tourney play.

Don't give up on freerolls, they will give you tons of experience.
Just keep playing and cashing for free that way you will be 'free-rolling" the buy in tourneys as well

Its good for experience and practice. It adds a little incentive if the FR prizepool is bigger. If you cash consistently in freerolls it adds up and you might make something out of it.

..i think the best type of freerolls are the country freerolls...for instance the irish freeroll averages 250 players, and top 18 gets 2 dollars..so its really worth the 3 hours it take...plus u dont get many donks going all in the first 30hands..i dont think the 2700 player onesare good though, it take 3 days to complete (full tilt)

Well I don't live there - the german FR has 2700 players every day (yet I won it already ).

The best freerolls available are the CC freerolls imo - as mentioned a few times in earlier posts in this thread.

The US freeroll was the opposite last time I entered. It had a lot of people shoving very early.