How did you guys start playing tournament and how many of you are winning online/ live tourney players?

[KingKolev]

Is a $2 or 300 bankroll ok to play 1 or 2$ entry tourneys and play say 100 games to get some stats on my skill level?

Ive been studying pokercoaching premium very seriously every day the past 2 months, playing about 2 freerolls a day. Im thinking about moving to micro stakes in the next few weeks. Is there a point ? Or is it better to cover more content improve my game further, fix more of my leaks and then begin microstakes.

Key thing to note im playing the freerolls seriously as if it were microstakes and always trying to make the best decision each and every time im faced with one.

 

[puzzlefish]

Freerolls and paid games are not the same, even if there are similarities. There's nothing wrong with playing both and seeing how you do. $100 is plenty to play $1 games, $200 for $2 games, etc.

 

[KingKolev]

Freerolls and paid games are not the same, even if there are similarities. There's nothing wrong with playing both and seeing how you do. $100 is plenty to play $1 games, $200 for $2 games, etc.

is preflop strategy / river strategy noticably different ?

 

[kosha_]

Good luck in the microlimit game - you will succeed...

 

[userX]

Freerolls are already a great start. Try to build a bankroll by playing freerolls, such as a bankroll of $100. If you have been playing for several months, I think you understand that this is a very real goal. And when you achieve your goal, then you can continue the conversation and decide how to proceed
... So, just play freerolls, increase your bankroll, improve your skills and accumulate experience.

 

[puzzlefish]

is preflop strategy / river strategy noticably different ?

You see a lot looser play in freerolls than in paid games. There are more calling stations and the ranges are much wider, since no money is at stake for the buy-in. In terms of strategy for approaching either, it depends on the structure of the game. If two games are structurally the same (ex. a guaranteed prize amount turbo freeroll vs. an equivalent turbo microstakes MTT), I think the optimal strategy is not very different.

 

[Poker Orifice]

is preflop strategy / river strategy noticably different ?

I'm not even sure what you mean by this ^ question?

My advice. Just play! You will learn & improve much more rapidly if you play A LOT! Play & study! Study without play is no good. (playing without studying... also no good but fortunately this is what many/most do).

If I were you my goal would be to play as many games as you have time for. Consider doing a study session prior to playing that day.

gl

 

[fundiver199]

You see a lot looser play in freerolls than in paid games. There are more calling stations and the ranges are much wider, since no money is at stake for the buy-in. In terms of strategy for approaching either, it depends on the structure of the game. If two games are structurally the same (ex. a guaranteed prize amount turbo freeroll vs. an equivalent turbo microstakes MTT), I think the optimal strategy is not very different.

Completely agree with this. Its not like, you need to think "oh this is a freeroll, so I need to do something completely different". But there is far more non-standard action like someone shipping in 100BB over your 2,5BB open raise, because its literally not their money. And this mean, you are wasting brain power figuring out how to deal with that rather than learning, how normal games play. Its very much the same as practicing for cash games on play money tables. Even at 2NL you will face more serious play and learn much faster, than you do in the play money cirkus.

My advice. Just play! You will learn & improve much more rapidly if you play A LOT! Play & study! Study without play is no good. (playing without studying... also no good but fortunately this is what many/most do). If I were you my goal would be to play as many games as you have time for. Consider doing a study session prior to playing that day.

This is really key advice. Most people dont study enough (myself included), but you have fallen in the opposite trap. Pokercoaching premium is an expensive training site, where you can find theory needed to beat mid and high stakes MTTs. But you are not even in the micros yet. And just as you cant become a good tennis player only by studying theory, you can also not become a good poker player. There is no substitute for actual practice, since its one thing to know in theory, what you are supposed to do, but quite another to actually execute it.

So just deposit those $200-300 and start grinding some $1,1-2,2 MTTs and get that experience. I mean... what is there to be worried about? That you might lose some money? Thats actually part of, what you need to learn dealing with, and which you cant learn in freerolls or play money games. The mental part of the game is just as important as the technical part, and you need to learn to cope with losing streaks without going on tilt or giving up. You can check the "bad beats and vents" section or all the posts about "rigged sites" to see, how many people struggle with this.

 

[fefibecerra]

Go for it! Cash games are and paid MTT are very different from freerolls, but that's exactly the point, so that you can learn how to play in different circumstances.

 

[ROYALROAD]

Even in tournaments, there is a big difference between pre-bubble and post-bubble.
For cash games, To play post-bubble is helpful.

 

[KingKolev]

Freerolls are already a great start. Try to build a bankroll by playing freerolls, such as a bankroll of $100. If you have been playing for several months, I think you understand that this is a very real goal. And when you achieve your goal, then you can continue the conversation and decide how to proceed
... So, just play freerolls, increase your bankroll, improve your skills and accumulate experience.

love it!

 

[KingKolev]

Completely agree with this. Its not like, you need to think "oh this is a freeroll, so I need to do something completely different". But there is far more non-standard action like someone shipping in 100BB over your 2,5BB open raise, because its literally not their money. And this mean, you are wasting brain power figuring out how to deal with that rather than learning, how normal games play. Its very much the same as practicing for cash games on play money tables. Even at 2NL you will face more serious play and learn much faster, than you do in the play money cirkus.

This is really key advice. Most people dont study enough (myself included), but you have fallen in the opposite trap. Pokercoaching premium is an expensive training site, where you can find theory needed to beat mid and high stakes MTTs. But you are not even in the micros yet. And just as you cant become a good tennis player only by studying theory, you can also not become a good poker player. There is no substitute for actual practice, since its one thing to know in theory, what you are supposed to do, but quite another to actually execute it.

So just deposit those $200-300 and start grinding some $1,1-2,2 MTTs and get that experience. I mean... what is there to be worried about? That you might lose some money? Thats actually part of, what you need to learn dealing with, and which you cant learn in freerolls or play money games. The mental part of the game is just as important as the technical part, and you need to learn to cope with losing streaks without going on tilt or giving up. You can check the "bad beats and vents" section or all the posts about "rigged sites" to see, how many people struggle with this.

Thanks this was a great reply, I love the advice, i got ITM for my first WPT global freeroll this week I'll keep practising, studying, playing learning and do exactly that maybe in a month Ill be happy to put 200 eu and play those 1- 2 eu mtts and learn from there. The feedback is great on this forum so nice to see the engagement from everyone.

Ill check out that bad beat section now to see what kind of walls others are facing thanks.

Good to hear your opinion on pokercoaching too, I really love learning there and always try to balance my actual learning time with game time.

 

[odonob]

Started playing online sit and gos about 15 years ago. Mostly freeroll and low stakes player.

 

[hutzpaf]

The winner of Ladbrokes' freerolls received $100. The initial capital came from these games.

 

[LUKADONCICMVP]

i started when i saw prahlad freidman playing main event on espn
i only play online.

 

[Pokerpoet2]

Personally I feel that pay to play games are the same as freerolls, Poker is Poker no matter how you try and cut it. The only difference is the fact that players don't care if they win or lose because it doesn't cost them anything to play a Freeroll. When you Pay a buy-in to a poker game then it becomes a little more serious, because people do not like to lose Money!
Even when it comes down to playing Live Games versus playing On-line the only difference is that Live games are more Social and a lot slower, but If you approach the game of Poker with the same mental attitude it really doesn't matter if you are playing Live or On-line or playing for free, or buying into a game, Poker is still Poker.
I played a Live game every week in my local pub, buying in for £5 every single week, I also used to play Freerolls almost every night On-line for the practice, You cannot learn to play Poker from books and videos alone, then enter a World Series game expecting to win it because you read every book you got your hands on and watched 1,000s of hours of poker videos, It can take years of experience to become that good, and the only way to get experience is to Play!
It is your attitude when playing Poker that really matters, I have been playing well over 20 years and still do not feel comfortable entering a Professional level game, But saying that I have entered a few Live Tournaments in casinos and done well in them, making the money on some occasions sometimes busting out early, but that is all part of this wonderful game.
Some players say that Freerolls are a waste of time because the amount of money you can win isn't worth the time it takes to play, I call that rubbish because of the amount of experience you can gain from Freerolls is Priceless, Sure there are idiots that will go all-in on any 2 cards but if you can avoid them and get down to the money bubble then it starts to get serious and that is where you gain the most experience. Experience in laddering up the pay table, Experience of Final table Play, and if you are really lucky Experience of heads up play.
Each different level requires a different playing strategy and you cannot experience those levels until you get there, Freerolls allow you to do that with no risk to your pocket, and there is nothing wrong in that. I approach every game I play as if I am in a wsop, and there is a bracelet at the end of it, the Money means nothing to me, It is the thrill of the chase, trying to be the best in that game, regardless of how much money I can make, being Number One, Top Dog, the Best of the Best, That feeling of achievement is all that matters and that is Priceless!