play money - what do you think?

[Bitra1]

Hi! :icon_bigs I have a question
Do you ever play playmoney on pokerstars and how much playmoney have you earned ? is it a waste of time? I lost 200 million and i'm in tilt because of playmoney haha

does it make sense to play playmoney because i see people buy playmoney have you ever paid for PM?

 

[DS3]

Largely depends on the state of your game.

For beginners I think the availability of play money is invaluable. It allowed me to get my poker feet wet and taught me the game. It allows you to practice with intent, especially if you have a ' bankroll' and play at higher stakes where the game is taken seriously (or at Replay Poker).

That said, no never bought a single chip. I made it my mission when learning on PokerStars and Replay to build a bankroll from scratch - develop good habits so to speak!

So yes, I can imagine losing 200 million did sting!

 

[Bitra1]

Largely depends on the state of your game.

For beginners I think the availability of play money is invaluable. It allowed me to get my poker feet wet and taught me the game. It allows you to practice with intent, especially if you have a ' bankroll' and play at higher stakes where the game is taken seriously (or at Replay Poker).

That said, no never bought a single chip. I made it my mission when learning on PokerStars and Replay to build a bankroll from scratch - develop good habits so to speak!

So yes, I can imagine losing 200 million did sting!

Thank you for your quick response. There are different opinions as far as playmoney is concerned, someone says that it is mostly played by maniacs and that it is better to play small limits but real money. I played big roles and I can say that the game is more serious. How big is your playmoney bankroll if it's not a secret

 

[TerryBLE]

I played much before I "dipped" in real money MTT's, currently not anymore (Playmoney - at the time I used what I had on the account, I never won or lost much)

 

[Alizona]

I credit my millions of hands played on poker stars play chips for being the poker player I am today. Play chips are free!!! (Unless you purchase them, which is certainly your option if you want to take a bit of a shortcut instead of grinding up a play chip bankroll the hard way) Free means you are taking ZERO risk as you learn the game. Free means you can experiment with different strategies. When we experiment, we usually go thru a period of losing, until we get better at the strategy and the decisions required... but it costs us nothing, because play chips are free! So why would we want to learn at real money and lose real money during this process? I would much rather do these things on the play chip side first, and once I feel comfortable, THEN I would try it out at real money play.

There is no question that play chip poker is "softer" (easier) than real money poker is. Players don't care as much when the chips are free (as they shouldn't!), but trust me on this - the play at the highest levels of the play chips on Poker Stars is quite good and very competitive.

So I highly suggest to anyone that they take this route. Use both play chips and real money, that's what I do, I constantly switch back and forth without any problem in my overall game. Play chip poker is stress-free, if you lose to a bad beat or a big cooler, it's a shrug and wish the opponent good luck, then move on with your day. That is also very good practice for the psychological side of the game - in my opinion, the play chips on Poker Stars is what finally cured me of my "tilt issues" which all of us probably have to some degree, and it is a critical aspect of this game we all must overcome if we wish to have success. Use the free chips and do yourself a huge favor!!

My opinions, hope this helps!! P.S. I don't mean to brag, but someone did ask and I don't mind saying... I currently have 85 billion chips (with a "B" hehe) on Stars, when I began my quest back around 2016 when we American players were allowed to play on Poker Stars again after our own government banned Stars from the USA in 2011, I had 11 million play chips in my account (which is what my balance was in 2011 when we were kicked off the site). Stars held my chips for all those years and they were still there when I returned. I will always credit Poker Stars for being the best site in the world, it isn't even close. I don't play cash altho they do run cash games for play chips... so all my winnings have been from tournament play. The highest stakes they run is a 5-Billion chip entry fee tournament every two weeks on Saturday afternoons, I'll be playing it this coming Saturday as always... there is usually only 20-30 players in the field, very very small group, but it feels great to realize that I achieved the dream of playing at the highest level possible on SOME site, even tho I fully realize it's kind of a comical joke in a way... but hey, it IS the nosebleed stakes on Stars and at least I can say I did it somewhere even while I grind away at the micro level on the "real money" sites we Americans can play on (mainly ACR). Best wishes on your own journey to the top rungs on the ladder!!! See you when you arrive. hehe

 

[Alizona]

85 billion �� you crazy man �� send me little to grind �� congrats

Thank you my friend, and I hate to say this, but because I love Poker Stars, I can't ever break their rules... and the sad truth is that we are not allowed to transfer play chips between players. They don't allow it, mainly because it is still a business for them, and they want players to be encouraged to purchase their chips using real money. My suggestions is that you NEVER EVER do that. Don't take a shortcut!!! It won't benefit you in any way. Start small, I think they give you 10K chips or something like that, and you can reload them every few hours if you lose them... I understand how frustrating it is to lose your chips, but understand this - bankroll management is probably the MOST critical "skill" for us to learn. If you had 250M chips and lost 200M of them in one tournament or one cash game session... well then guess what? You have lots to learn about "proper bankroll management"... but you MUST learn it if you ever wish to become a winning poker player!! So don't take the easy way out, fight that urge and grind up your bankroll the hard way. Someday you will look back and appreciate my words.

I know there is a temptation to ask someone to join them in a cash game and "lose a few chips to me on purpose"... while I would be entirely willing to do so, the absolute fact is that this is called "Chip Dumping" and once again, it is against the rules of Poker Stars to do this... so I wouldn't ever do it, not even for my best friend. Sorry about that, it's not my choice, I would love to help people out... but I cannot. I will never ruin my relationship with Poker Stars and affect my own fun, even if you think it couldn't ever be detected if "done properly". I won't ever do it because I won't ever knowingly break the rules.

Best wishes on your poker journey my friend! I hope my words give you encouragement and gives to a desire to succeed at this great game. You can do it, and you will do it... just always do it the right way... which is often the hardest way... but nothing good in life ever comes easy.

 

[Bitra1]

.. I understand how frustrating it is to lose your chips, but understand this - bankroll management is probably the MOST critical "skill" for us to learn. If you had 250M chips and lost 200M of them in one tournament or one cash game session... well then guess what? You have lots to learn about "proper bankroll management"... but you MUST learn it if you ever wish to become a winning poker player!! So don't take the easy way out, fight that urge and grind up your bankroll the hard way. Someday you will look back and appreciate my words. :knuddel::top:

 

[DS3]

Thank you for your quick response. There are different opinions as far as playmoney is concerned, someone says that it is mostly played by maniacs and that it is better to play small limits but real money. I played big roles and I can say that the game is more serious. How big is your playmoney bankroll if it's not a secret

No secret and in fact somewhere here on one thread people revealed their play money bankrolls...and some were epic.

First I will admit that I now play somewhat infrequently at PokerStars (play chips) and Replay but, when I do, I take it seriously and I find it enjoyable.

On PokerStars my play chip balance (just checked for you) is just under 74,700,000.

On Replay Poker my chip balance is 3,360,000 (with 125 tourney tickets still left to play).

Further, unlike most, even though I had never played a hand before I started to learn online I knew something about the culture of poker. So, I took that learning process seriously and I laid out spread sheets to record my progress which stood me in good stead when I joined Cards Chat and then started to play free rolls.

I always have graphic materials on hand to remind myself of the gains I have made and to encourage myself into the future.

 

[DS3]

.....My opinions, hope this helps!! P.S. I don't mean to brag, but someone did ask and I don't mind saying... I currently have 85 billion chips (with a "B" hehe) on Stars, when I began my quest back around 2016 when we American players were allowed to play on Poker Stars again after our own government banned journey to the top rungs on the ladder!!! See you when you arrive. hehe.....

Holy Toledo Alizona, that is epic.

I always make an effort to 'defend' play chips at CC because play chips brought me into poker, plain and simple.

I understand some are completely disinterested in utilizing the format, and at the lowest levels of cash games the play is farcical at times. But I really pushback at the idea no one takes it seriously, because they do. As soon as you switch to MTTs rather than cash, and then play higher stakes, play instantly get more competitive.

I have also noted on any given day at PokerStars within a play money MTT you can now find 'badged' players who have played serious amounts of real money hands playing as well. It shows that a number do take such MTTs seriously, if only for practice.

 

[Mamkin_Pokerist]

Playing for chips and playing for money are completely different things. There is no value in chips and such a game is completely different

 

[Alizona]

Playing for chips and playing for money are completely different things. There is no value in chips and such a game is completely different

It is still poker tho!!! That's the point you are missing.

For example... let's say you are correct, and the game is completely different... first of all, can you identify what is different about it? That is step #1. Step #2 is much more important... now that you have identified HOW play chips is different... can you identify the proper response to those differences? Can you find a way to turn those differences into +EV plays?

It's not that we're going to "get good" at the play chips and suddenly become good at real money poker automatically. Of course it doesn't work that way. But what play chips CAN show us and teach us, is that certain strategies are better than others if we want to win... and that is something that can help you MASSIVELY at the real money games.

For example, let's say people are right, and play chippers just "shove all in" every hand. It's not true, but let's assume it is true... What is our proper adjustment to this "all in" tactic, and why? It is asking ourselves questions like these, and experimenting with different strategies against such opponents that can teach players a lot about how to play the game.

At the highest play chip level on Stars, the problem is not LOOSE players - there aren't as many of them as you think there are... the biggest problem play chippers have is they are too passive. They call too often, they don't raise nearly enough, and they don't bluff at a "proper" frequency (another question to ask ourselves - just what IS the "proper" bluffing frequency?)

These are all aspects we can work on during our play chip poker... AND IT COSTS US NOTHING.

I hopefully have made my point and given others something to ponder and consider. Don't look at play chips as being totally useless. It isn't!! No, it isn't the same as real money poker is, I would never say that it is... but that doesn't mean it has no value to us. There is ALWAYS value in ANY form of poker. Perhaps you don't have any interest in "wasting your time" because you can't win any money at the play chips. That is pefectly understandable - you simply have a different priority in life than myself. I don't play this game for money, I play this game because I love to play this game! Hope that helps someone out, hopefully my points are clear enough.

 

[Alizona]

I have also noted on any given day at PokerStars within a play money MTT you can now find 'badged' players who have played serious amounts of real money hands playing as well. It shows that a number do take such MTTs seriously, if only for practice.

Yeah, I don't show my badge because there's no point for me to do so, as an American. I have the 88 badge which is 250,000 poker hands but I do see 10-10 badges which I think is over a million hands.

Sadly, the badges only represent real money play, and for Americans like myself, our real money play ended on April 15, 2011 as I'm sure most know by now. So I got a quarter-million real money hands under my belt by that time, but I'd probably be over 5 million if it wasn't for our stupid government taking away our right and our freedom to play on Stars. I sure wish I knew the exact number of play chip hands I have played since 2016 when we were allowed back onto the play money side of Stars. It is easily in the millions, I used to play every single day for many hours. I can remember my goal was to reach 1 billion chips - back then, tournament entry fees were much lower and it was an extremely difficult goal. It took me about 3 years to achieve it, starting from my 11 million chips in 2016. I became obsessed with the climb up the ladder. Stars used to have what they called "The Billionaire Club" and that was my goal, to earn an invitation to the Club. Unfortunately, just before I reached it, they closed the Club down. LOL And so it goes. haha

The reason I now have 85 billion chips is because the play chip economy grew quite a bit, tournament prize pools increased, and while it took me YEARS to achieve 1B, I remember laughing because it literally only took me a few short months to reach 2B - it isn't because I suddenly became a "great" player, it was simply a function of the prize pools going way up, that's all.

I took a risk with my bankroll at around 35B chips, one of my approaches to play chips was to play them exactly the same way as I would if they were real money chips... meaning, I was (and still am) a bankroll nit. But at 35B, I decided it was time to "take a big risk" and enter the big bi-weekly 5B chip tournament... I only had 7 buy-ins, which is most certainly NOT "good bankroll management"!!!! It is awful BRM... but I did it because I wanted to "train myself" at taking risks, and I thought it would be very good for me to lose a significant portion of my bankroll, so I could then deal with losing, see how I handled that tilt, etc. - I was trying to practice all the negative aspects of poker too, you see... and wouldn't you know it? I won that very first attempt, won the tournament for almost 30B chips, and haven't looked back since. It was definitely a very nice "bink". haha

 

[DS3]

Yeah, I don't show my badge because there's no point for me to do so, as an American. I have the 88 badge which is 250,000 poker hands but I do see 10-10 badges which I think is over a million hands....

...I was trying to practice all the negative aspects of poker too, you see... and wouldn't you know it? I won that very first attempt, won the tournament for almost 30B chips, and haven't looked back since. It was definitely a very nice "bink". haha

Thanks do much for taking the time and trouble to relate that story - not just from my perspective but because I think it makes for some great background for others to read and absorb- so interesting!

Of course, I can only imagine how frustrating it is to be a US citizen in a state which does not allow on line poker. That said, you can only hope that as more states open up to poker momentum will be gained and others will see that they are losing potential for state income.

 

[marvinsytan]

play money is a waste of time

play freeroll better at least if you win it can buy you a meal

 

[Risto234]

play money is a waste of time

Then what are you doing in cardchat league :hmmmm2:

 

[iwont20]

I don't play for play money besides in Home games tournaments organized by Cardschat. I think I have over 1 million of play money on PS, I'm not sure.

 

[goodsaint]

I’ve posted in a couple threads previously about my play money experience. I’m out the mob that cut their teeth on PS play money. Grinded 10,000 or 15,000 chips up to 7-8 million 15 years ago. Of course I did as a previous poster stated. Practiced different strategies and worked on leaks. Continue to do so to this day. Thanks to the poster who explained about the badges. I thought I had chosen the 10 10 myself. Could have sworn you could choose your badge. Playing 5c/10c cash on ACR occasionally. Tournament poker is my strong suit. But, can only play cash on my tablet and phone. Getting a laptop in the near future. Hope to replicate my past tournament results from PS and Carbon poker. I know I take play money poker seriously. Have 5 billion chips now. I would think the folks that pay $499 for 2 billion chips take it seriously too. Folks who outright dismiss play money poker are probably the ones who have gotten frustrated with the loose, manic play one encounters, especially at the lower levels. As a previous poster pointed out, it’s a great opportunity to work on one’s tilt leaks. I would not dismiss play money as an opportunity to work on one’s weaknesses and leaks.

 

[goodsaint]

Forgot to mention that I enjoy the occasional congratulatory video PS sends on a top 3 tournament finish. Think I’ll go watch 1 or 2 now.

 

[killbello]

I think playmoney can be usefull only for learn the basic play but if you want be serious you need do a minimun deposit because playmoney people dont care about money

 

[Cooking]

I don't play money because I don't think the majority of players don't take the game seriously. So, If I had to choose I would play freerolls because I think the level of the players is the same but I can win some money playing.

 

[hecendorfer]

If you are playing freerolls the people are oftentimes playing in the same way. Some poker rooms have really bad payouts so if the first 54 is having some cents from 2400 players its not worth more at all than play money.
Sometimes I practice in play money because there is absolutely no risk if you try different kind of games and you can try yourself not only in tournaments but heads up or cash games etc.
Also if you are having a bad streak you can play in play money which is good because unlucky beats can put you on tilt and cause even more leak, these times play money can be a good solution.

 

[antonis32123]

Play CC home games , or a private homegame with $$$ awarded among (trusted) players manually .

Nothing else with playmoney

Lol

 

[samersv]

play money

it's a waste of time only if you need to get acquainted with poker softwarecguru:

 

[danoscar]

Not a waste of time if you are learning or bored to death.

 

[Chebchoub]

Hi! :icon_bigs I have a question
Do you ever play playmoney on pokerstars and how much playmoney have you earned ? is it a waste of time? I lost 200 million and i'm in tilt because of playmoney haha

does it make sense to play playmoney because i see people buy playmoney have you ever paid for PM?

I never bought play money,
But I crossed the five million in one day, knowing that playing with play money is no different from playing with real money, and this is not only for me but for most of the players I came across, especially when the value of participation goes up, because the secret lies in the competition and this makes the game more interesting