Sitting Out, Good or Bad to the game?

I have noticed that in freerolls about 60% of players registered are sitting out. A few sites have policies about it (like on bodog I got my account suspended for sitting out too much) but most sites don't really care if players sit out. Its mostly just in the beginning but you see a lot once you play for hours and finally cash.

I, for one, have no problem with players sitting out most of the time. If gives all the players an advantage because they get to collect all there blinds knowing that the sitting out players can't build there stack.

Its just what I don't like is when people sit out and profit off it that ticks me off (which I'll admit I have done myself in freerolls). And I also feel that it can ruin the game because its not as fun playing when only 2 or 3 players are actually there. Thats only 2 people who can call and a lot of the time you can't play your good hands because the 2-3 active players fold where with a full table your almost guaranteed a call.

So what do you think? Is sitting out good or bad to the game?

I think sitting out is good for the players playing.

Free money = Great.

i dont play freerolls much but, i remember sitting at a table in a freeroll with everyone sat out that was so annoying. but if there is only a couple then its not so bad i guess, like slow said free money = great hehe

woody19 said:

i remember sitting at a table in a freeroll with everyone sat out that was so awesome

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FYP

Everyone else at the table sitting out = free blinds yum yum yum

If your talking about building a bankroll from freerolls its really great for you. Alot of the better freerolls like FTPs Fantasy freerolls, some of the Iron Man freerolls, and the Poker Academy freerolls usually have a ton of sitters and if your just looking to cash just take the blinds and play pretty tight. Like everyone else said, sitters = free $$$

Deadly Silent said:

If your talking about building a bankroll from freerolls its really great for you. Alot of the better freerolls like FTPs Fantasy freerolls, some of the Iron Man freerolls, and the Poker Academy freerolls usually have a ton of sitters and if your just looking to cash just take the blinds and play pretty tight. Like everyone else said, sitters = free $$$

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Yea I don't have a problem with them usually but sometimes it can be annoying and get boring with no real players

While it can get boring playing tourneys when their are just a couple people at your table, I dont mind it at all. Sitters equal free money and an easy cash and also a decent chance of cashing big in a tourney.

Yea i don't really mind it too much because its free money.

Hasn't happened to me very often, but the most memorable time was great. It was the Little Big Tournament on FT. First table, everyone was sitting out. Min raise, min raise, min raise, and repeat, haha, awesome.

Wardo420 said:

Hasn't happened to me very often, but the most memorable time was great. It was the Little Big Tournament on FT. First table, everyone was sitting out. Min raise, min raise, min raise, and repeat, haha, awesome.

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I've played tournaments to the final few tables before most sitters were gone.

Free rolls which are open registration usually have the worst play during the first 30mins - 1hour, so usually I will sit out and avoid playing with these donks that play and raise every hand under the sun.

I do agree that players sitting out is great for those there that steal the blinds but there is one situation that drives me crazy.
Occasionally, it will be just you and one or two other players and it's not enough for your opponents to steal blinds from the sit outs but they want yours too. I hate that.

I try not to sit out unless i'm close to the money..sitting out is too cheap.

belerophon said:

I do agree that players sitting out is great for those there that steal the blinds but there is one situation that drives me crazy.
Occasionally, it will be just you and one or two other players and it's not enough for your opponents to steal blinds from the sit outs but they want yours too. I hate that.

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It really sucks when they got position on you the whole time except when your the button. Just got to wait for a good hand and hopefully take all those chips and more away from them.

I think the players that do sit-out are somewhat selfish as most of the freeroll registration limits are reached and many players who would actually play could have had their seats. Also I notice on pstars in particular some people play multiple accounts and sometimes will have 7 or 8 accounts sitting out. This dilutes the prizepool and I assume these people are awful at poker or have entirely too much time on their hands.

ChrisKub said:

I think the players that do sit-out are somewhat selfish as most of the freeroll registration limits are reached and many players who would actually play could have had their seats. Also I notice on Pokerstars in particular some people play multiple accounts and sometimes will have 7 or 8 accounts sitting out. This dilutes the prizepool and I assume these people are awful at poker or have entirely too much time on their hands.

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So how did you come to this conclusion that their are people with 7 or 8 accounts all registered in the same freeroll? Just because names are similar doesn't mean anything at all. If you have some real evidence that they are multiple accounts, have you emailed pokerstars support about it? Not saying I don't believe that their are a small percentage of people with a few accounts signing up to the same freerolls but I really do not believe it as prevalent as you may think.

I think sit-out's are bad for poker. It makes for a longer tournament waiting for the sitouts to blindout. Also it's not a fair situation when some tables have more sitouts than others. You could be facing a normal full table or all sitouts and everything in between.

ChrisKub said:

I think the players that do sit-out are somewhat selfish as most of the freeroll registration limits are reached and many players who would actually play could have had their seats. Also I notice on Pokerstars in particular some people play multiple accounts and sometimes will have 7 or 8 accounts sitting out. This dilutes the prizepool and I assume these people are awful at poker or have entirely too much time on their hands.

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I don't know about people having 7 or 8 accounts on pokerstars. But I do agree that it makes the pokerstars freerolls take way longer than they should. If nobody sat out there would be maybe 3000 or 4000 players registered but probably less.

Slow Roll Poker said:

I think sitting out is good for the players playing.

Free money = Great.

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Exactly. The "Sit Outs" are Dead Money throughout the tournament. Some players do appear in his seat upon realizing that the chip count they entered into is reduced to next to nothing. If thats the case, I love Sit Outs on FreeRoll Events.

Some sites remove the sit outs after 20 mins. This allows for guys who might miss the start for genuine reasons and do turn up a bit late.