I have on several sites built a reasonable Bankroll from free-rolls, without ever depositing cash, on PKR.com it was the 10 Cent give away's that I started playing, and you were only allowed to play them until your account reached $2 Dollars, then I started playing Ring Games with a 10 cent buy-in, and then progressed to the 25 Cent buy-ins, and so on.
I had around $150 Dollars with them before they went bust, and stopped their site.
On BetFred I played Point free-rolls which paid you out with points and you could either use the point's to buy into some MTT games, or exchange them for
real money, at around 450 points to the Dollar, it was all free money and I had around $150 Dollars with them, before they stopped the free-roll Point's system.
I have done this on many other site's, sometimes just making a few Dollars, other's I have made over a $100 Dollars or more.
pokerstars has always been my preferred
poker site and I have over $600 Dollars with them now, never made a deposit, and never withdrawn any winnings, Why? Because I am not short of that kind of money, to me On-line Poker is a hobby, it is just a bit of fun. Live game's was where I could make some real money, and I have made more in one night than all the
poker sites put together, I have also lost more in one night, but hey! That's Poker!
When the fun Stops, STOP!