Are freerolls damaging your poker game

[mkdrummey]

I have never spent a penny of my own money on poker. I started out with freeroll winnings and moved money between sites to take advantage of offers. I have made enough over the years to buy a few things I wouldn't have been able to at the time. I now play occasional cash games but still mostly freerolls. I did find I wasn't able to cope with a big game when I got into one through a satellite. I have freerolled into the sunday storm and even the sunday million once, and it seems impossible. So I would say you're either a freeroll type player or not.

 

[walkkking]

I think you're right. But only if you play freerolls for an extended period of time. However, if learn a little later and gain experience from other places, he will not be a bad player!

 

[dopustim]

I get the experience of playing poker....I like freerolls

 

[jaymfc]

I play freerolls every night and the play can be horrible but when I play in a buy in game
I am usually shocked that our freerolls are filled with much better players.

the thing with buy ins of all levels is there are millions of people that don't care about that amount of money.
life changing money for me can be a drop in the bucket for others.

freerolls are where we all start, including every pro. so use them to learn and they will take you to the next level. JMO

 

[leobouble]

it doesn't get in the way, on the contrary it helps to develop experience for when you are going to spend your money in paid tournaments and still give you the opportunity to qualify for big tournaments through the freeroll satellites

 

[nuttea]

I know freerolls are incredibly popular among recreational and beginning level players. They're commonly viewed as a risk free way of building up a bankroll. A chance to develop your poker skills without worrying about losing the shirt off your back. Most of us got our introduction to online poker by playing exclusively in these type of games. After playing dozens if not hundreds of them the majority of players have yet to build even a modest bankroll. I don't view that as a issue but what I believe is happening is that these freerolls are hindering most people from becoming good poker players and preventing them from ever being able to build a bankroll in the future. We call it real poker but the truth is that freerolls are played much the same as play money poker is and they bare little to no resemblance to the tournaments that require buyins. I large number of the people playing the freerolls have little interest in actually playing or even learning how to play poker. Because of that the games are overwhelmed by bad poker play. So much so that many of the things considered poker no-no's are done so regularly that you begin to think they're how your supposed to play. In freerolls almost every hand starts with a open limp followed by five or six more players limping behind. No one seems to know how to size a bet they limp unless they got ace-anything then they panic shove all in. The flop comes and followed by the inevitable donk bets. If a player makes top pair you can almost count on them snap shoving all in and then hoping someone with a middle pair is dumb enough to call which they often are. When a player looses a decent size pot it's a safe bet that the next 3 or 4 hands they'll be shoving all in preflop as they try and shake the tilt off. If you don't know any better you would just assume that this is how poker is played but against a table full of average or better players you'll be laughed roff the table right after they've taken all your chips. I honestly think freerolls teach people how to be bad poker players. If a person's ambition is becoming a good player then it would be wise of them to stay away from freerolls altogether

hey do no harm. if you load them to your boot session, and do not play exclusively them, then this is only + EV to your profit. albeit small

 

[MrAlabama]

i think without proper discipline it can lead to bad habits in the long run.

 

[pljosko]

Playing freerolls will not bring any progress to aspiring players who have exceeded the level of beginner, it will even hinder their game. If they want to make progress, then the rule is: better school - higher tuition.
Many players, including myself, know that they will not become top players, but they still enjoy poker. Such players, in addition to the many disadvantages of freeroll tournaments, use their great virtue - they are free.
But among the freerolls there are quite a few differences. In CC freerolls (excluding All members tournaments) and similar tournaments, the game is much more serious than in tournaments with several thousand entries. What is played on pokerstars freebuy satellites can hardly be called poker. Cheap rebuy (5 x starting chips = 11 cents) is an incentive for some players to terrorize others with constant all ins in each hand, and add on (50 x starting chips = 11 cents) makes all the chips we have won until the end of the rebuy period worthless. These tournaments only start to resemble poker when players pay to add on.
Freeroll tournaments damage the game of high quality players, but freebuy tournaments damage the game even of freeroll players.

 

[_xgeb_]

My personal opinion on freerolls (I only play on Pokerstars): A few days ago I decided to stop playing freerolls that give 1 or 2 seats for a tournament. So many people register that you have to link a lot to reach a final table. And personally, I don't want to waste time on it. Lower the level, I don't think so. As long as you know tournaments differences. I like to go into freerolls where the blinds go a little slower and you have more options to get to a decent prize.

 

[NauGad]

Poker

I agree that in freerolls the actions of players are very different from playing in paid tournaments. Nevertheless, in freerolls there are beginner poor players who value their stack and treat freerolls as a quite serious tournament. And those players who go all-in with either hand are always in the red at a distance. Even if they were lucky and they took the bank several times.

 

[diego farfan]

in part you are very right that this type of tournament creates a false illusion that you are a good player or have skills since they play with that illusion to win some money but as in all types of tournament in poker it has its essence and strategy I play this type of tournaments to be able to enter higher tournaments and putting into practice everything I read and learned to see what is the most correct strategy

 

[10gerka]

Freerolls are good only for banking but when you level up you have to change your game drastically, because you are going to face players who already study the game well, that's why you should not stay with your game from before but adapt it to the new style of play where good players are seen.

 

[AllenKll]

Without reading most if the other replies - Freerolls are only damaging to your game IF you play them differently from every other game you play...

If you pick up bad habits in freerolls and you play alot of them - its probably going to effect some spots in your game.

I just don't deviate from my normal playable strategy. I adjust to certain players and take notes on them and whatnot, but I dont change my entire gameplan. Freerolls should be used to reinforce solid good play fundamentals and how to implement them - not to develop some sort of off the wall strategy and try to switch back and forth between it and your normal approach. Why complicate a game that is already pretty complex? Just makes no sense to me lol.

100% this. If you play these games like you play your other games, stakes don't matter. I seem to remember a number of big name poker players building huge bankrolls from nothing. They had to play freerolls to do it.

I find that Freerolls help me cope with bad players, which you will find at every level. Granted there may be 1000 ppl in a freeroll, but by the time you get to the top 100, a large percentage - if not all - of the donks, flush chasers, ace lovers, and maniacs have busted out. And you're back to playing some quality poker.

I do notice a distinct shift in players and play stiles after about an hour to an hour and a half of play on a 3-4 hour tournament. This is where the better players start to stand out more than the bad players.

I've always said, if you can't beat a bad poker player... you're certainly not going to be able to beat a good one.

I'm working on building a roll from nothing. Starting from dead zero, 5 months in, I'm up to 75 dollars. I could be playing .50 and 1 dollar tournaments by now, but I still mostly play freerolls as there are still kinks in my game I need to work out. I know this, so I refuse to move up just yet.

 

[vskots150]

Freerolls help me discipline my game. In freerolls there are a lot of players of different levels and very often have to adapt to a specific table. It gives me a lot of experience, but some situations make me crazy.

 

[ritz_avalanche]

The game play is more or less similar

 

[36yankees]

I need to build my bankroll up and free rolls do just that.Patience and discipline are very important and I’m learning something everyday

 

[Snake2007]

Freerolls do not harm my poker game, either as a game for money or as a game of freerolls, just as I play I do not hold back at all.

 

[RVTR7777]

Never are freerolls hurting my game.
Freerolls and for me another knowledge in the game, another platform where I am learning.
Freerolls are all good as a test platform lol.
:bebored::rock::rock::icon_rr::musicus::cheers:arty::smokin::stupid:

 

[NauGad]

Freerolls

Freerolls are different. There are freerolls with an adequate structure. But there are completely crazy. I’m talking about such freerolls where the addon exceeds the initial stack ten times.

 

[Dude1901]

Freerolls are the part of the Game!You can train your skills for free������

 

[thwenth1983]

freerolls

Good morning everyone.
On the contrary, freerolls only help me evolve in poker, it is very nice to play Cardchat freerolls, especially after there was an increase in chips from 1,500 to 3,000, the free ones became more exciting.
I played the Cardchat freeroll on 03/14/2020, which is open to all members of the site, on Mtt there was a fild of 2689 players, and I lost and finished in 132th place in an error, I tried to expel the villain, who hit 4 on the flop with K4ss vs my AKdd, at that moment I had more than 30bbs, and ended up eliminated because villain didn't want to fold the 4 on the 2d flop 4h 9s, the freeroll helps me in those moments so that in the next I don't play so aggressive .
These Cardchat freerolls have good players, in the beginning it's a little easier when there are 25 left, 20 players is more complicated.

 

[Boreyko506]

Freerolls are helping to make start-up capital for beginners who do not want to risk their money.

 

[JoeKampman]

You have to realize what game you're in. Freerolls are a way to build a bankroll from nothing. The ones provided by the sites are often free for alls in the beginning. Those who continue to play that way will not win very often. The starting stacks are often so small that by the time you get a good starting hand (unless you are incredibly lucky) it becomes a push/fold situation. I think so long as you keep in mind what type of tournament you're playing and you're studying the game they shouldn't harm your development.

 

[Sintubai]

Agree, I still play freerolls often, for fun and to raise some money without obligation.. However, I know that the way freerolls are played by most players, especially at the beginning, in a crazy way! If you get angry because of the bad beats you find in the freerolls, it will be difficult to sleep !! lol Tournaments with micro buy-ins are even similar to the freerolls, but certainly the medium and big stack tournaments are played in a much more technical and intelligent way!! Only have fun with freerolls[emoji41][emoji857]

 

[PackinPat]

Agree, I still play freerolls often, for fun and to raise some money without obligation.. However, I know that the way freerolls are played by most players, especially at the beginning, in a crazy way! If you get angry because of the bad beats you find in the freerolls, it will be difficult to sleep !! lol Tournaments with micro buy-ins are even similar to the freerolls, but certainly the medium and big stack tournaments are played in a much more technical and intelligent way!! Only have fun with freerolls[emoji41][emoji857]

no reason to be upset with a bad beat in the beginning of a free roll. Key word Free