I signed up for an account on Ultimate Bet last week and had deposit issues, so they have me $10.
I played some rings for few bucks profit.
Then I played a $1.20 S&G and got first place for $4.50
Then I played a freeroll and was out early. (I don't even remember it)
Then I played the [old link~tb] and won $17 or whatever (plus the $27 satellite ticket thingy).
Then I played the Thursday
UB freeroll for $45.
These are atypical results. I have $70 and (eventually) a $27 tournament ticket without ever depositing. But you can't expect to get hot like that. Normally it'd take
for freaking ever to get $70 from nothing.
$70 is not a big roll, but I've made thousands on PokerStars with a $50 deposit.
The thing is, it's easier and faster to make money when you already have money. The expected return for a good player on a free roll might be $1 for his 3 hours of play. But if that same player played money S&G's he'd be making substantially more per hour.
So basically, freerolls can be a first step, and it's a long slooooow step. If your goal is to make a living though, once you have a bankroll playing freerolls is no longer part of your plan. You simmply won't make enough money per hour to justify the time.
What it boils down to is that to make a living wage, you need to win a good amount of money per hour, and that's *impossible* to do with freerolls. They can only fund you to play micro limits, which will then fund you as you move up limit by limit until you're playing stakes high enough to have a meaningful return.