Play Money Tournaments -worth the time?

skrsh76

skrsh76

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Is it worth playing and analysing a Play money or Freeroll tournaments to learn and improve your Poker? or is it not much of use as player far too aggressively as they have got nothing to lose?
 
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nemesis

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You can use it to practice sizing your bets and calculating odds, But I wouldn't recommend it for actual practice because most of the time people are just going to play like maniacs with play money. freerolls on the other hand are a good way to improve as a tournament player because there is something to play for and there shouldn't be too much maniacs. A good tip is to play tight from the beginning there's people who don't care for freerolls and just shove with nothing for the hell of it.
 
RichL

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Most people will tell you that the only good reason for trying play money games is to learn how to use the software or the rules/structure of a game variant you haven't played before. Then you should deposit some money or try picking up a bit of money through freerolls.
 
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Kenzie 96

Kenzie 96

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Don't know if aggressive is the word I'd use, but limited value, at best.
Kinda like playing some Ping Pong to get ready for your Golf Club Members Tourney.
Just play freerolls if your not ready to deposit, but, don't waste too much time on them either. Reading books or this forums offerings are a much better use of your time, if improvement as a poker player is your goal.
 
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RamdeeBen

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you would be much better of reading and looking up strategy as opposed to playing play money.
 
domeburglar

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I think your better off watching instructional videos or reading up on how to improve your game.. play money games arent really gunna give you much help unless you have no idea of how to play poker... other than for basic rules of the game play money will only promote bad habits and train you to play in situations you will very rarely experience in real money games
 
italiano

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I would say it is to lose your time to analyze or play for fictional as most playing bingo! We would recommend you deposit some money to play tournament buy-in small or play freerolls!
 
dresturn2

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I'm the opposite of most people....when i first started online I played hours on hours with playchips on FTP and I learned alot about grinding taking chances and really recognizing when your just gambling. On FTP there is a nightly tournament 500k play chip buy-in where you can win some real money. I took my playchip account up into millions over the years when i couldnt afford to play and its a great confidence builder and games are taken seriously at the top level play chip ring games. It also taught me about grinding low stacks and recognizing when to move up and because of that I stand here in making an extra 300/wk at 50nl from a $50 deposit and learning for free with play chips helped me get there.
 
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MillauFr

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I agree with most posters that at the lower levels the games are a complete joke. On Full Tilt when you start getting up to the 10k and higher buy ins the players are much better. Still not a real money game for sure but good for practice.
 
Arjonius

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I'm the opposite of most people....when i first started online I played hours on hours with playchips on FTP and I learned alot about grinding taking chances and really recognizing when your just gambling. On FTP there is a nightly tournament 500k play chip buy-in where you can win some real money. I took my playchip account up into millions over the years when i couldnt afford to play and its a great confidence builder and games are taken seriously at the top level play chip ring games. It also taught me about grinding low stacks and recognizing when to move up and because of that I stand here in making an extra 300/wk at 50nl from a $50 deposit and learning for free with play chips helped me get there.
It strikes me that the key phrase here is the one about playing for years when unable to afford to play with actual money. I think if the poster had started with real money freerolls, even averaging only a few cents per hour, by the time he actually began money play (after years of play chips) he'd have been much farther ahead in terms of both his game and his bankroll.
 
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detourglr

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depends on what you want to practice on. You have to realize people playing for money and people playing with no money there is a big difference. However just to keep in the flow with things like calculating pot odds, ranges of hands and etc.. I think this keeps you in the same practice than not playing at all.
 
Aleksei

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Play money's a waste of your time. Freerolls aren't any better but at least there's a bit of money at the end of the road. Also they at least teach you basic strategy or MTT turbo formats (read: shove top of range and pray to whatever deity you worship :D).
 
zEric7x

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I'm the opposite of most people....when i first started online I played hours on hours with playchips on FTP and I learned alot about grinding taking chances and really recognizing when your just gambling. On FTP there is a nightly tournament 500k play chip buy-in where you can win some real money. I took my playchip account up into millions over the years when i couldnt afford to play and its a great confidence builder and games are taken seriously at the top level play chip ring games. It also taught me about grinding low stacks and recognizing when to move up and because of that I stand here in making an extra 300/wk at 50nl from a $50 deposit and learning for free with play chips helped me get there.

I am more likely to agree with you. I think people on this site underestimate free players. Just because its free doesn't mean there is no motivation to try hard. I like the challenge of trying to build up a play chip stack and I really try my best. I treat my chips seriously, almost like money. I even use bankroll strategy for my chips. I hardly think the things I learned and practiced were a waste of time.
 
AugustWest

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The $500 Fiftyfifty play money SNG's on P* are pretty fun,
but ring games force you to be a nitty/rock and are boring IMHO.
And can teach you bad habits......
 
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I think freerolls are the best way too improve your game play money are just allin donkfests and with freerolls yu are playing for something depending on the prize pool of the freeroll and how many players are in it
 
UnNa7uRal

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Why would you even consider playing Play Money when there are tons of freerolls going on every 2 hours or so? You will improve your game and you will have an actual chance of winning something and I mean SOMETHING (look up the freeroll challanges going on and how people stack from 0 to +50$)!!
 
Airburn

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Iv started with playmoney tourneys and I think they really helped me understand how to play,
Won 65$ Now from freerolls in about a week and a half.
And now placed top 5 in my first 5 money MTT and made 615$,
Before I started Freerolls and MTT, I played alot and alot of playmoney tournys , so Yea I def think it helps
 
trekmaster

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I think that play money and freerolls are good to learn from if you are a beginner and know nothing about the game. For example learning that ace rag even when you hit 2 pr on the flop is not very strong agaist an ace j or so. when your a2 hits on an A29 flop and then the turn comes 9 your screwed. I think thats one of the most best lessons I learned using play money or freerolls.
 
AugustWest

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Basically if people have nothing to lose, hands play totally different then if it is their own money at stake. So you tend to say "eff it, I call" etc......
 
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FLOnaldoRO

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This is a good question . I play somethimes play money tournaments , and in my opinion it's usefull . This tournaments,can help you and you can see what and how works some hands on that poker room . In my case , i have seen soe hands and lo pairs with very good chances to make a trips or a stright . I have watched and formated some hands for real money tournaments and believe me in 60 % that lo pairs and cards have results against monster hands . This is my opinion , it's not a losted time .
 
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FLOnaldoRO

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And for freerolls , there i think it's a different strategy . They go on '' i don't have nothing to lose '' . But if there are very much players , will be some like a chaos . I play daily freerolls and it's very hard to win something . If it's a freeroll , that doesn't mean fish players or all players . I have seen a lot of skilled players and the result are coming after you learn some '' strategy hands '' .
 
el_magiciann

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A good tip is to play tight from the beginning there's people who don't care for freerolls and just shove with nothing for the hell of it.

You are damn right man, if you play Christmas freeroll at BLACK CHIP you need to play tight more than an hour :D there are so many idiots who call with anything and just when u got AA or KK there are more than 3 players in the hand you your hand is not even good..... :toilet:
 
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FAOMaalik

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I'm addicted to wsop iphone App and Xbox Full House Pro. Both have SnGs where a few idiots burn out at the beginning but then it settles down into something more like real poker, ring games are a total waste in my mind.

You will see every bad beat imaginable and innoculate yourself a bit to the emotional ups and downs, you get to practice your odds calculations a lot.

I've got 30k hands between the two Apps. Once online poker goes legal in Cali, I'll let you know if it was worth the time invested!
 
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Play money is good to get a feel for the game and software before going to the real money tables, but don't expect to learn much about poker strategy playing there...
 
Theromeo2k

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Play money is very useful when it comes to developing good Bankroll Management. Keeping your chips under control, maintaining a good balance of your chips, and playing at a set percentage of your chips will get you prepared to handle Real money and prevent you from going bankrupt or losing your bankroll.

Freerolls are great for developing a key factor/skill in poker- Patience. When playing freerolls people tend to spew their chips and make horrible plays because they got "nothing" to lose. However, stay away from this mentality because there IS something to lose and that is Time. It is important to be patient enough to wait for Premium starting hands at the beginning of tournaments in order to build a stack for later in the tourney.
 
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