Building BR with Freerolls

[ROGUE63]

not only private freerolls are good for starting a bankroll but "SPECIAL" freerolls are a great way to get started . a little min deposit to access new depositor freerolls is also a gr8 way to start .i was lucky enuff that a poker site closure funded my first ewallet with a little seed capital (from a frreeroll cash of course)and i just went from there taking advantage of new dep offers is gr8.didnt ever have to use cash from " real world"all my deposits came from cashes at other sites .been running with it every since .of course i do tend to play more buyins now than i did a few years ago .kinda fond of the intertops bounty games 6.60 ,33 , and the 10 dollar buyin on fridays aand growing quite fond of the 6 dollar buyin shootout on party

 

[Arjonius]

Freerolls are the best way to build a bankroll, it should automatically teach you bankroll management. Every site has freerolls and sites like minted even have freeroll steps sngs.

Freerolls, at least the open ones, are not the best way for everyone to build a bankroll. For those who are sufficiently risk-averse to feel that an EV of pennies per tournament is acceptable because there's no possibility of losing any money, fine. It's not like there's much other choice.

Even private freerolls have dwindled dramatically in terms of how many there used to be, the small fields, and the prize pools that were offered a few years ago.

 

[gmuballer111]

it can happen, just need a ton of time and patience

 

[Poker Orifice]

I keep a record of all of my private forum tourney cashes (freerolls & buyins).

In 2011, just in 'freerolls' I cashed for $1,406.10 & also 2x 30day DTB memberships & a $50 Amazon card. It was worth it.

 

[Majeg]

I try to play as many fun steps as I can on carbon while I'm going to school full time and working full time. Then when I get a break from school I try to work on building my br. I did make a min deposit on carbon but that was only to get the first deposit out of the way. I was able to win 5 level three fun steps before making a deposit.
I started off on Betonline winning $16 in a freeroll. I was then able to get that up to $70 within a couple weeks untill I decided I didn't like playing there. The good thing about Betonline is they have freerolls every hour. Plus there is plenty of fish and more DoN's going on than at Carbon. The major advantage I found at Betonline was that they have $0.50 DoN's while Carbon only starts at $1. This could be helpful to those with a micro size br like me.

 

[Arjonius]

I keep a record of all of my private forum tourney cashes (freerolls & buyins).

In 2011, just in 'freerolls' I cashed for $1,406.10 & also 2x 30day DTB memberships & a $50 Amazon card. It was worth it.

While the raw numbers are nice, how "worth it" winning this much was is, IMO, a matter of personal perspective, which can bring in other considerations. For me, one is the amount of playing time, which factors into hourly win rate. My freeroll winnings last year worked out to under $3 per hour. That was alright because it was within sight of my buyin win rate. But if I were good enough to make $10 or $20 per hour from buyins (or ring games or SNGs), it would have been a substantially -EV use of my time to play the freerolls that I did.

 

[Tom1559]

Building a bankroll from freerolls is a grind especially if you are trying to do it from public games. Best advice is get yourself qualified to play private freerolls. I noticed earlier that Victor Chandler are running $50 bankroll builders with 200-300 players. Might be worth a shot.

 

[Leo 50]

I did it on FT and PS before the free rolls were 5k and only 2.5k players.
(all before Black Friday)

Now it's a lot harder BUT it can be done.
I've won a small amount on the Merge Fun Steps and plan on building a BR from that.

 

[Poker Orifice]

While the raw numbers are nice, how "worth it" winning this much was is, IMO, a matter of personal perspective, which can bring in other considerations. For me, one is the amount of playing time, which factors into hourly win rate. My freeroll winnings last year worked out to under $3 per hour. That was alright because it was within sight of my buyin win rate. But if I were good enough to make $10 or $20 per hour from buyins (or ring games or SNGs), it would have been a substantially -EV use of my time to play the freerolls that I did.

$/hr. is insignificant because they're being played at same time as I'm playing a session of other games.

 

[MasterOfDisaster]

Build up my BR with freerolls 2, after I reached a nice amount.
I made an e-wallet cashed the money and there on new sites, read about the (new player)promo's on the different sites and build it up even further, sometimes even without spending to much of your BR.

I also searched for tourneys with overlay wich boosted my ROI (nowadays there are much less), kept a schedule when they run, and also looked for valuable freerolls where you didn't had to do much to qualify.

With my nice shedule I almost forgot nothing and had really nice months without risking too much.

Nowadays I sometimes still do this but at a lower pace. Only when I am in a bad losing period I play more to get my confidence back.

 

[Arjonius]

$/hr. is insignificant because they're being played at same time as I'm playing a session of other games.

IMO, that depends. Let's say I'm playing my normal number of buyins. If I add a freeroll where my EV is $3 per hour, I make more than if I don't add it. However, if my buyin EV is $10 per hour, I'm effectively leaving money on the table (i.e. opportunity cost) because I'd have been more profitable adding another buyin instead.

 

[bjj_mat]

It's doable. I've turned a 15 dollar first place in razz in FTP (back when they had 900 people per freeroll) into a few hundred dollars.

 

[froggyyaces]

Play tight from beginning unless in position and level 1 or 2 hand AA, KK, Ak or so. All the loose players will start to leave by first or second break than you make a move. Always look at %'s and position and see who is aggressive and who is tight, anythough it's online you can still judge players by how they play so concentrate. I have built a 300.00 and 375.00 bank roll on Black Chip and Cake just on freerolls, I play them late so less playing field. I play on Bet , bodog and Lock as well. Use to play on pokerstars as well " nyfan76" I've done well on pokerstars as you can check on pokerrankings.com and look me up, right before blackfriday i was ranked like 75% out of 5000 players or so that being said I have really bad money managment. Good Luck and hope to see you at the tables.

 

[Poker Orifice]

IMO, that depends. Let's say I'm playing my normal number of buyins. If I add a freeroll where my EV is $3 per hour, I make more than if I don't add it. However, if my buyin EV is $10 per hour, I'm effectively leaving money on the table (i.e. opportunity cost) because I'd have been more profitable adding another buyin instead.

idk.. but do agree 'it depends'.
Not sure what size of buyins you're referring to, but my EV is far from $10/hr. per tourney. Say an ROI of +40%.. that'd be $100buyins on avg. (typically going 4+hrs. even with smaller field ones). I'm not rolled on any site for that... not even close. (also, my 'online poker bankroll' isn't real flexible.... meaning > I can't move it around very easily from site to site (takes too long & I prefer leaving it spread out so I can take advantage of oppurtunities, ie. promos, $-added, overlays, etc.). Some sites I have ~$20 on, others $100, $200, $500, $3k+.
I also approach it 'recreationally'... meaning I'm not playing (at the moment) to maximize $/hr. (sometimes I dick around playin' 2nl on sites I have very small bankrolls on... cuz 'I feel like it'.. want to play poker but just feel like farting around). If I was rolled to play $50+ mtt's on each & every site I was playing on (or even $30+) then for sure they'd be a waste of time (although some of them are decent...$1K+ freerolls with good payouts).

 

[Arjonius]

My buyin win rate is well south of $10 per hour too. But for the purpose of gauging how worthwhile it is to play freerolls, the actual figure is less important than the difference compared to buyins. It also matters what freerolls you choose. For example, if I make $1 an hour from buyins, it's not worth it - from a strictly numerical POV - to play open rolls where my EV would be pennies or even 0.25 per hour. But if I can select certain freerolls to play so my EV is in the same ballpark, then those are worth it.

I agree that it's not always strictly about the numbers. My last cash session was recreational. I farted around at .01/.02 even though my EV is higher at other levels.

As for having money spread around, I have small amounts on at least 15-20 sites - my fault because I don't spend enough time cleaning up my balances. But given that your location shows canada, same as me, I don't understand why you say you can't move your money around easily since I can. All it takes is having enough in my e-wallet at all times to make at least a few deposits.

And as I've said before in other threads, I have only one bankroll, not one per site. If I manage my roll on a per site basis, it would mean, for example, that if I have $750 on Carbon and $50 on Black Chip, I could only join the exact same 20NL table if I'm on Carbon even though my full roll is fine to play 20NL. And if I lose the $50 on BC, I have money in my e-wallet if I want to deposit.

 

[Poker Orifice]

But given that your location shows Canada, same as me, I don't understand why you say you can't move your money around easily since I can. All it takes is having enough in my e-wallet at all times to make at least a few deposits.

Cuz I'm lazy & never get around to setting up an e-wallet (not since eppasporte stopped working with the sites). I really should get onto it.
Do you use Moneybookers?

 

[Arjonius]

Yes, I use Moneybookers. Never had any issues.

 

[essambb]

the proplem wilth freerolles people play like maniacs in the begging of the freeeoll as they have to get a godd head start
so the first 10 levels chips will flying all over the place and you will need to win alot of coins flips after that you will not have to so luck involve alot in the bigning and when you get your starting capital you should play tight poker as you dont have alot of bullets tto waiste
you will need to play alot than 5 or more freerolles a day

 

[sCATpoker]

In my opinion dont bother building a bankroll from freerolls only it is too much work. Just make at the very least a min deposit especially if on merge site that gives you two weeks of freerolls with a relatively small feild and can get either cash or tickets depending on where you place. also first time depositors bonus and rakeback help out a little which you dont get if you dont deposit. I like to deposit and send in documentation as soon as I deposit that way when you do come into some money you dont have to wait around to make a withdreaw well you may have to wait but not on your own accord. In my experience most often when a player asks a relatively begining question , which is quite alright (wont know if you dont ask) It is usually not from not knowing where to find freerolls but usually from the lack of ability and experience to cash in them. And if you have the ability to consistently cash in them than playing with a minimum deposited amount will only expidite the bankroll growth. Nothing wrong with freerolls but typically just play them for entertainment and also helps sumpliment your bankroll with no risk.

 

[peedee91]

funsteps on merge are a good way.......i have never deposited on carbon and i have around 6 bucks haha

 

[DEdwardsNJ]

I think getting into restricted freerolls is the key. Wading through 3000 entrants for 5 hours to win .89 cents is just not worth it to me. When you can find $500 or $1000 freerolls with with only a few hundred entrants, those are the ones that have some value. If depositing a small amount of money is an option, I think if you do like $25-50 deposit on a couple of different sites and then play just enough to take advantage of their promotions. Get a little bit on merge, a little on cake/intertops and a little on bovada, etc. They all generally have promotions where for a limited number of points earned you get seats in freerolls.

Plus having a few bucks on each site will let you buy into small buy in money added tournies which are way more valueable than freerolls IMO.

 

[Tiburon2012]

Both are in my opinion the most skill form form of poker.

Obviously memory is key and even more key in stud h/l. There will be less variance in h/l.

I don't think there is much luck invovled in this form of poker either. Of course you're always drawing your hand, but it takes a really really good player to be good at stud.

stud h/l requires more skills purely because you have to know the "low ball" game very well and quite frankly a lot of people suck at low ball poker. I'd say H/L requires more skill, just like Omaha H/L game is more skillful than Omaha.VIP Casino Bonus

 

[jordanbillie]

I think getting into restricted freerolls is the key. Wading through 3000 entrants for 5 hours to win .89 cents is just not worth it to me. When you can find $500 or $1000 freerolls with with only a few hundred entrants, those are the ones that have some value. If depositing a small amount of money is an option, I think if you do like $25-50 deposit on a couple of different sites and then play just enough to take advantage of their promotions. Get a little bit on merge, a little on cake/intertops and a little on bovada, etc. They all generally have promotions where for a limited number of points earned you get seats in freerolls.

Plus having a few bucks on each site will let you buy into small buy in money added tournies which are way more valueable than freerolls IMO.

This!
I originally built up my BR on Cake with a $10 private freeroll win. Added $5 more the next week with another cash in the same private freeroll. Private games can significantly help the growth of your small BR.

 

[sagiPOTM]

find some private free rolls, cardschat also have some very nice.
I also play some free rolls with thousands of people and its rlly kinda waste of time, its not like u cant win its just u dont get adequate award for so much players on it, so you have no will to play and we do stupid moves which we wont do for decent free rolls. Anyway building bank roll with free rolls is best way i think, anyone can pay to play poker, but its fun with free rolls

 

[Worak]

I built BRs on PS, FT, Carbon, UB and 888 by freerolling.

I started with the 1K+ player donkaments but found that spending 6+ hours of my life for a <20$ win really is a waste of time.

Then I decided to join a few poker forums and found CC to have the sweetest payouts so I made it my prime forum (obv. I'm still here).

After about a year I had accumulated >1000$ over all sites and felt it was time for investing some now (bought HEM, a 2nd screen, a laptop and various other stuff).

As poker orifice mentioned there aren't quite as many private freerolls available since BF (I too lost a bunch of $ there) but it's still worthwhile if you're short on money and/or just learning the game.

Personally in 2011 I won a few hundred $, a 30day membership to dragthebar, 2 coaching sessions with Collin Moshman, a really good poker book (jared tendler: the mental game of poker) and all given that I

wasn't around much last year due to non-poker related family issues (health aso.).

^^This was just on CC, add some more for other poker forums.