Can freerolls damage your game?

[lost2qandisa]

I win freerolls all the time. I think they are a great way to learn with ZERO risk. Do I take a lot of bad beats? You bet I do! Do I get mad at the donk that calls with J 9 with me holding 10 10 with a 10 on the flop? Then they hit a two card straight draw. You bet I do. However, when you take that bad beat, you learn how to settle down and grind back up instead of going on tilt. If you play ABC poker in a freeroll, you can win. I think that a freeroll can be bad for your game or good for your game. It is up to you...

 

[rock0001]

damage? why?. freerolls are the best way to outplay fishes in the long run. You can lose many of them by having a bad run, and losing with better hands, which are beaten on the flop, turn or river, however you have to keep in mind that in order to beat the best players first you have to start beating the worst players so if you cant beat them arguing that the dont play poker, but rely on luck, having a good strategy against them will make you a winning player on the long run in those tournaments.You just need to adjust your style according to those players for example if a player goes all in every hand, maybe its better for you to call in late position with a hand like pocket fives, or sixes, or hands like kq,or even kj, because there are lots of probabilities that with those hands you are ahead preflop.

 

[mapt02h]

There are definately freerolls out there that are worth playing, and in which the skill level is actually not that bad. And the prizepools can be worth playing in.

As long as you take them seriously, I don't see how anything bad can come of it

 

[Tiltt2424]

Freerolls are just a good opportunity. Seeing more hands is definitely not harmful to your game. I don't think free rolls are the best thing to do to improve your game but they definitely aren't the worst things you could do.

 

[hobonc]

When playing freerolls u have to remember the caliber of players and adjust accordingly with hands that u are dealt.

Thank you.

Free rolls are what they are. I don't make a huge adjustment in my game but in the public FR's with thousands of players I tend to play a little more lose...especially right at the start.

 

[nitulbhatia]

Just finished 3rd out of 1600+ runners on a $100 freeroll on ipoker network. Got $9.24 and loads of entertainment.

 

[Akorps]

One thing you can do is use your freeroll winnings to play in micro-level tournaments, and see how your game needs to change.

 

[abzdolc]

the only thing which you can make better in freerolls is push-fold, no other knowledge

 

[hrix]

Freerolls can damage yoyr mind because of all this freaking bad beats. :/

 

[Arjonius]

I win freerolls all the time. I think they are a great way to learn with ZERO risk.

There's no monetary risk, but there can be an opportunity cost. This can be monetary if you play a freeroll instead of another game where your EV is higher. It can also be non-monetary if you could have learned things that are more important in light of where your game is at.

 

[SallyLamb]

in essence if you don't take it as serious poker yourself then sure it can effect your game.

*bump* to that

Yeah, as soon as you let yourself get even a little sloppy, it might be time for a break.

 

[The1AceJack]

I've actually started playing more free rolls, as of late... I want to play more often than my budget allows, so I feel like this is a good way to practice and continue with my learning... without using up the rest of my BIs in a few days. haha.

Also, giving Club WPT a try, since they're offering an extended free trial, atm... there's a lot of things I hate about the site; but I do enjoy being able to play lots of poker, worry free, with easier-to-earn micro-stakes.

 

[wanderingthehall]

I think it all depends on what your skill level is. If you're new to poker, there can be a lot learned from playing in FRs, but if you're used to $20 BI you risk picking up sloppy play that will cause you to lose money at the higher stakes.

Me personally?? I'm a freeroller. Zero to hero all the way. But, to make sure I'm learning and adapting to higher stakes, I have a rule that I won't play in any tournament or freeroll where 1st is less than 5% of my BR. That way, the money will have some significance.

I think sometimes we forget that most of the time, the moves we make in poker are a result of habits we have formed. It's like muscle memory, and any poor choices we make will affect how well we can perform.

 

[Akorps]

One good thing about freerolls is that you can experiment, try out different betting techniques, and practice and perfect different betting techniques without risk.

 

[SyKoChiller]

To OP; I think the opposite is true about the DONK-a-THON OLP free rolls. Poker is a game of trickery & finding that edge against your opponent's.
I think worst case playing in these insane large field online free rolls will allow you to pick-up & adapt to a wide variety of players & styles.

Regardless, I feel like smashing some shit up when some dingdong in something like UTG+4 or 5 Shove against my pocket Aces, turn over a pair of 2's when I call, then hit miracle flop, turn & river to beat my brains in!

 

[Aces2w1n]

Poker is Poker... Learn your opponents and ajust accordingly. Make the right decisions. Focus who cares where your at how much money is at the table.

Play Poker, Exploit, Succeed, Another brag under the belt.

 

[loafes]

In poker we profit from exploiting fish. What better place to practice exploiting fish than risk free tournaments that attract schools of fish?

 

[AAChipMagnet]

If you are a big tournament player, it's good experience to see all the different things that go on. If you have no $ on the site it can be a huge help to play them for obvious reasons. If you are a cash player it could affect your patience level negatively. Mostly, if you play them, just keep it in perspective that nobody paid to play.

 

[ccocco]

always the advice I received is to miss a couple of levels in freerolls unless you have a strong hand AK, AA, KK, QQ, KQ otherwise agree among themselves as to remove, so you go allin with any letter eventually you're going to go further because although they have a lot of chips early in the tournament still playing allin with any letter and do not reach the bubble .. need a lot of patience in long tournaments ...