Improving through play money or micro

Rybod · Jan 23, 2020

I am new here, but not to poker... i am new to taking the time to improve though.

Most of my play has been random home games, and maybe a cash game once a year.

I am taking some time and money to improve both online and live.

What I did so far is pick up the masterclass sub, for Daniel and Phil's class. Signed up here, reading lots and signed up with pokerstars and 888

I will be putting in a small bankroll, $100-$200 to start.

What my question is, should I bother with play money at all ? I know freeroles are useless to learn good tournament play, but will probably play them anyways for fun.

I do plan to play micro stakes real cash and micro MTTs on both stars and 888.

from experience, would the play money hurt the learning curve ? i honestly think it will and probably won't use that side of the App.

Collin Moshman · Jan 23, 2020

freerolls and micro-stakes are very useful for learning.

Many people believe that play money isn't helpful, and there's truth to that: People play very differently when no money is on the line. But if you take it seriously, you can still learn lessons about how to adjust.

** What should you do against players who literally never fold?

** How do you best handle the guy shoving every hand?

If you take these types of questions seriously, you'll be well on your way to good poker thinking!

zhilipp · Jan 23, 2020

I played play money quite a bit and its really annoying when you cant bluff someone out on a very wet board when all they have is something like a pair of 7s but yeah I managed to learn handling those type of players and probably learnd patience to wait for a decent hand.

Rybod · Jan 23, 2020

yah, so far on the play money cash games and mtt, i just hang back and wait.

so far, good for tilt control.

PatriceM915 · Jan 23, 2020

Good evening
I disagree that the freeroll is useless.
Freeroll is for practicing and developing your game, so you can play tournaments or sit for real money.
And fictitious money is used to access tournaments at HomeGames.

But you are right to study Poker before betting, take it easy and Good Luck.

Danjwarburton · Jan 23, 2020

Pay for your poker education boy!!!

Dive in, play lowest stakes possible, lose a lot, learn, fail, redeposit eventually, make more mistakes, gain more experience, redeposit, out of nowhere start profiting, encounter set backs, lose big chunks of BR, get annoyed, make a decision if you carry on and then hopefully keep grinding!

This is one hell of an emotional rollercoaster you will go through learning, don't do it for the money or to "learn". It's best to do it all for the experience! You must fall in love with the experience in order to keep grinding and going with this game. The process is everything and learn to LOVE it!

Once you are a winning player and you are regularly moving up, you become a much better version of yourself. All winning professionals recognise this in themselves.

Poker changes people, if you can overcome the emotional traumas of the game (positive and negative) you will feel like you are on a new spirtual level. You will be able to think clearer and be more rational in life. You will be more resilient and find yourself harder worker.

Once you become very profitable, you will become a completely different person. Just think that it may change the people who you call friends and you might start appreciating "me" time a little bit more.

Good luck...

cranberry · Jan 24, 2020

I think it is possible to learn how to play poker for play money, but only at high limits. According to my observations, playing poker for play money at high limits is not inferior to real money at micro-limits.

brazilpescador · Jan 24, 2020

I believe that you should not take into account a game with fictitious money due to the level of commitment that is considerably lower, so as there is no money involved you can react differently during the game. I recommend playing at 888poker because there is a weaker and lesser number of players and there is less profit and less stress than you would have when playing at poker stars

eetenor · Jan 24, 2020

Rybod said:
I am new here, but not to poker... i am new to taking the time to improve though.

Most of my play has been random home games, and maybe a cash game once a year.

I am taking some time and money to improve both online and live.

What I did so far is pick up the masterclass sub, for Daniel and Phil's class. Signed up here, reading lots and signed up with pokerstars and 888

I will be putting in a small bankroll, $100-$200 to start.

What my question is, should I bother with play money at all ? I know freeroles are useless to learn good tournament play, but will probably play them anyways for fun.

I do plan to play micro stakes real cash and micro MTTs on both stars and 888.

from experience, would the play money hurt the learning curve ? i honestly think it will and probably won't use that side of the app.

Thank U 4 Posting

Are you going to play multi table? If so practicing in free games with as many tables open as you can helps work out the timing. It is like learning to juggle. So grind 6 free games for 4 hrs or more and see what it does to your brain.

Most players are not bluffing often enough when they start. In free games you can bluff more and lose nothing. Your villains will not fold correctly but when you do your hand reviews you can see if the bluff was correct regardless of outcome.

If you want to learn to play LAG style you can be super aggressive in play games and not crush your bankroll.

Hope this helps

eberetta1 · Jan 25, 2020

I do not do play money. I have enough bad habits already playing in real money games without learning bad habits from doing play money games.

Mikeloti13 · Jan 25, 2020

Look, if you want to learn to play seriously, they are no way to go. Since player field is much broader and you have players that are new to the game and you cant really play "real" poker. You should stick to the courses for a while. And only freeroll that is good is this one from CardsChat cause the field of players is much smaller and more serious.

Rybod · Jan 25, 2020

Seems to be a broad range of opinions on play money.

I think what I will do is the following.

go for the freeroles as I can mainly for bankrole building to start with.
Micro tables and MTTs at stars and 888
play money if am bored and want to practice pot odds and draw calculations in my head

RVTR7777 · Jan 25, 2020

Improving through play money or micro?

Lately I've been dedicating some time of my day to study a little, some time ago I only played play money, I'm starting to take more chances in the freerolls and micros 0.02 good luck friend.

300HPGOD · Jan 26, 2020

My 2 cents is to avoid play money because it is just too off the wall where no one cares, you can never bluff and its a bit unrealistic at times. I disagree on the freerolls, I think you can learn a lot from them especially when you get deep in them. Thats when people do really start to take them seriously. They are great to learn from with no risk and you can still build a roll from them.

I would also say to play micro stakes for a while when you start out. At the micros, 100-200 dollars will last a while and supplement that with freerolls and you should get a lot of action and learning in for a small risk amount.

fundiver199 · Jan 27, 2020

I spend a decent amount of time on play money tables, because at the time poker was just a way to have fun, and I found it wrong to gamble for money. I don’t know, how it would have been, had I gotten into poker a different way. But my play money table experience meant, I was solidly beating 2NL right out of the gate, when I started playing for real money.

So I definitely think, you can learn something, and honestly fish at real money tables are not that different from fish at play money tables. You still see all the same patterns, so play money tables are a realistic way to learn how to play against fish. People do actually care about their fake money chips, when you reach a certain level. This is why, poker sites can make money selling them, and you even see players (illegally) selling chips to other players!

Of the other side a lot of people dont care about losing 2$ or 5$, because its the price of nothing. So even in real money micro games you still see crazy stuff like someone going all in preflop with KJ offsuit for 100BB, because they feel bored or just want to gamble. Looking back at it, I do wish, I had made the transition to real money games much faster though. So while I think, play money tables can be an ok place to practice for people, who are completely new to the game, I would not hang around there for to long.

Rybod · Jan 27, 2020

fundiver199 said:
I spend a decent amount of time on play money tables, because at the time poker was just a way to have fun, and I found it wrong to gamble for money. I don’t know, how it would have been, had I gotten into poker a different way. But my play money table experience meant, I was solidly beating 2NL right out of the gate, when I started playing for real money.

So I definitely think, you can learn something, and honestly fish at real money tables are not that different from fish at play money tables. You still see all the same patterns, so play money tables are a realistic way to learn how to play against fish. People do actually care about their fake money chips, when you reach a certain level. This is why, poker sites can make money selling them, and you even see players (illegally) selling chips to other players!

Of the other side a lot of people dont care about losing 2$ or 5$, because its the price of nothing. So even in real money micro games you still see crazy stuff like someone going all in preflop with KJ offsuit for 100BB, because they feel bored or just want to gamble. Looking back at it, I do wish, I had made the transition to real money games much faster though. So while I think, play money tables can be an ok place to practice for people, who are completely new to the game, I would not hang around there for to long.

\
Thanks Fundiver, i really appreciate that insight from experience. I have been playing play money for the last week while I wait for my ecopayz account setup to complete... they are slow. I didn't want to go direct deposit from a credit card, that is just silly.

so far, I find the play very random , some tables you get some good players that play ABC, then sometimes you get the tools that go all in on a 10 7 off.... against my KK , and they win. i still made the right call, but still silly people there sometimes.

I find the 888poker play money cash games and MTTs a lot more realistic based on show cards .

will keep at it though.

ventrolloquist · Jan 29, 2020

Rybod said:
I am new here, but not to poker... i am new to taking the time to improve though.

Most of my play has been random home games, and maybe a cash game once a year.

I am taking some time and money to improve both online and live.

What I did so far is pick up the masterclass sub, for Daniel and Phil's class. Signed up here, reading lots and signed up with pokerstars and 888

I will be putting in a small bankroll, $100-$200 to start.

What my question is, should I bother with play money at all ? I know freeroles are useless to learn good tournament play, but will probably play them anyways for fun.

I do plan to play micro stakes real cash and micro MTTs on both stars and 888.

from experience, would the play money hurt the learning curve ? i honestly think it will and probably won't use that side of the app.

Playmoney games are a gongshow, sometimes on Stars you find a good table. It will teach you some things about how to play preflop in loose live games though.

One exception are the zoom playchip games on stars imo, since people can just fold in questionable spots instead of getting impatient, the level of play is a bit closer to micros. But still a bit softer.

You will learn a lot by playing both, like how to adapt more easily to different tables (but mostly focus on micros)

Sergei 9417 · Jan 29, 2020

Rybod said:
I am new here, but not to poker... i am new to taking the time to improve though.

Most of my play has been random home games, and maybe a cash game once a year.

I am taking some time and money to improve both online and live.

What I did so far is pick up the masterclass sub, for Daniel and Phil's class. Signed up here, reading lots and signed up with pokerstars and 888

I will be putting in a small bankroll, $100-$200 to start.

What my question is, should I bother with play money at all ? I know freeroles are useless to learn good tournament play, but will probably play them anyways for fun.

I do plan to play micro stakes real cash and micro MTTs on both stars and 888.

from experience, would the play money hurt the learning curve ? i honestly think it will and probably won't use that side of the app.

I learn to play and often play freerolls, in my opinion playing at cash tables with a micro limit brings more gaming experience than free freeroll tournaments where they play without a sense of responsibility for their bankroll

zinzir · Jan 29, 2020

In my humble opinion, you can learn from every poker game you play, regardless how small or big the stakes are.
When it comes to play money games, the question is not how seriously the other players take the game (that's almost irrelevant to your learning process), but how seriously you are taking the game yourself, how focused and diligent you can be during those games.

thetick33 · Jan 30, 2020

for sure here is a double edged sword but suggestions are simple if your bank is limited def play every free roll you can

next look at your time and effort in regards tto playing micro stake mtt's you have a lot better chance of winning if is 200 or less people... yep bigger tournaments offer bigger prizes but beating 1k people takes skills a lot more then beating 200 people

if playing micro stakes cash the only rule id follow is to beat each table that is your goal and set a time limit on how long you will sit on a table before going after that table.....

meaning if you havent won in a half hour to hour your probably not going to win unless you play amazingly tight imho..... and you get some cards in order to play that style.... a good tournament here on pokerstars is league play that runs quarterly we are in winter season right now..... the tools you need to play in that event 27 people is same tools youd need to be successful in a micro stakes ring buy in imho.... hope this helps gl on the felt and in life

Ranish625 · Jan 30, 2020

Playing for game money is not a game, poker is a game for money, everything else is not poker

Improving through play money or micro

Rybod

Enthusiast

Collin Moshman

Poker Expert

zhilipp

Rock Star

Rybod

Enthusiast

PatriceM915

Visionary

Danjwarburton

Rock Star

cranberry

Legend

brazilpescador

Rock Star

eetenor

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eberetta1

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Mikeloti13

Rock Star

Rybod

Enthusiast

RVTR7777

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300HPGOD

Legend

fundiver199

Legend

Rybod

Enthusiast

ventrolloquist

Visionary

Sergei 9417

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zinzir

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thetick33

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Ranish625

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