Play money vs. real money

[okeedokalee]

Play chips can only give you bad habits for when you switch.You are not playing poker and you need to learn the game of poker before you start spending your money.
Years ago I had 25 million play chips on party poker. When I switched to money games what I saw was light years apart from play chip poker.

 

[Supmargy]

Even if you try to play 'properly' with play money, it seems that no one else does, so it's questionable as a learning tool.

I heard once you get into the high stakes play money games, you'll face decent opponents.

 

[bujjhati]

Do you play diffrent in play money over real money or do you play the same as a teaching tool? I try to play the same last night i won 8.2 million in play money at pokerstars why couldt that have been a real money:cool game!!

Play money can be a good learning tool, players tend to be worse but you will adapt your game to this reality and you can test some stuff, you can practice how you play with weak ranges and get in some difficult spots that you wouldn't be with real money, you will develop a certain mindset that will help you in a real money game, you just have to learn the diferences between these too kind of games, once you maximize your winnings with play money and understand why you are winning I think you can manage to win also in microstakes, yes they play way different, but as I said, you will have to adapt your strategy, cheers

Just one question, do you play tournaments, cash game or what?

 

[Sergio_uy]

The difference between real and fictitious money is that in fiction there are many players who do not mind losing all their chips since they are free, instead for real money I do not think anyone makes fun of losing their money that with sacrifice was achieved Get to you

 

[Berbo]

I try to limit my poker to at least freerolls

If you get into the habit of playing play money games this takes away from the skill set and stakes that a real money game provides. People tend to play a lot looser and this may transfer over into your real money games. Good luck

 

[milka1605]

Playing for not real money and real money is a completely different thing. On gambling money, it is possible to learn only at the initial stage. Even the tactics of the game are different. You can win millions of gaming chips, but be a complete layman when playing for cash.

 

[HennieP]

Okay, now that everyone told you how bad play money games are I'll tell you that it's not entirely true. Many of the people you'll see on play money tables are Americans who can not play for real money. Does this mean they play bad poker? Not really. Then there are the people who enjoy the risk-free element of play money games but still play a good game.

Yes, there are a lot of bad players but they are also in real money games. These days it is not so easy to get play money on pokerstars anymore so people tend to value what they have. You only get 12500 chips every 4 hours and the minimum buy-in for a cash game or any tournament is 10K. So if you play stupid you're out for 4 hours. Most people learn this very fast and start to at least try and play better. Those who don't will be sitting and waiting for their 4 hours to pass quite often. Of course some will load up a few times over a few days before wasting it all with bad play but the really bad players usually don't wait that long.

If you plan on making it on real money tables then yes, you'll need to play real money games. Not because play money players are all bad or teach you bad habits but simply because you need to get use to the risks and learn to calm your nerves and apply proper bankroll management. If you have the cash to play with then by all means move to real cash. But if you don't then there's no shame in honing your skills on play money tables while you wait for the next free-roll.

If fact, if you can beat play-money tournaments consistently you'll find it's not so different from free-roll and micro tournaments. You get your bingo players early on and if you survive then you end up with the better players after the first hour or two.

And let me tell you, you haven't seen more serious players than those who play at the 1M+ play money buy-in levels.

 

[Fastone2]

play money vs real money

Play money can actually make a player less productive. They take to many chance and don't expect to finish a tournament. I began to play for play money and saw a major change when I began playing free rolls.