I have been playing holdem for roughly 10 years, but haven't played online since black friday until roughly 3 weeks ago. I like you, can afford to deposit and start playing at my old stakes, which was the 30 sngs. But after having money held hostage for what, like 3 years, I'm hesitant to just jump back in and act like nothing bad can happen again. I chose caution and came back playing $10 freerolls on ACR to get my feet wet. It was a bit of an eye opener how loose 90% of the field is. After adjusting and knocking off the rust, I managed to final table 7 times that week and make the leaderboard finishing 4th for a $55 ticket and made a small bankroll.
After grinding that week to attempt 1st on the leaderboard, I realized, I never want to have to do that again. Freerolls are far too time consuming for minimal payoff. Was it still worth it, as a 1 time thing to build a bankroll from scratch? Absolutely. It was just great to play online again and get the feel for it back. They can be a great resource for new players to try the game, learn from it and maybe even make some money.
However, I think new players need to be very careful if they are new to poker and start playing freerolls. The freerolls can allow for players to pick up many bad habits. Half of the field is far to passive and the other half far too aggressive and nearly everyone is loose to a fault. If new players find themselves modeling their play after others they will never advance beyond this level.
However, if a player already has a strong grasp on the game, I think the freerolls are a great way to get yourself a baby bankroll. During the 1st hour it is in my opinion best to play tight aggressive but be very cautious until you have a feel for your table. Many players are willing to give all their chips away during the first 10 minutes. If you are lucky enough to have a few at your table kindly accept their offerings. There are many calling stations at the freeroll level so you obviously want to temper your bluffs. Players will play any 2 cards and you are going to have to accept many bad beats at this level of play. Do not let it frustrate you. Concentrate on making the right decisions as consistently as possible. Take notes on players tendencies as you will run into the same people at freerolls over and over again. Develop your own playstyle, LAG, TAG, etc. and learn how to make adjustments to the various types of opponents and positions you will face. Do these things, and you can and will win. And remember to have fun and enjoy your time playing.
Once you can beat the freerolls it is up to the micros you go. Research and learn about bankroll management. In my opinion, there are few things more important to learn. Learn to look back at your hand histories and find and fix your mistakes. Also find the things you do well and try to duplicate results. Always be learning, there is a wealth of information out there, with forums being a great place to start.
