First of all, I must mention that this tips are just for someone started playing poker recently and wants to improve his game experience and learn much more about games
Many people told me if you want gain some game experience play freerolls, Then I took this advice and played so much freerolls in many different poker rooms and considered those tournaments as a learning session, but after one or two month I've noticed that I didn't catch any improvement so I analyzed more about freerolls and this is why I don't recommend freerolls for learning poker:

1-All in or fold mechanism:

Most of freeroll players take this tournaments as a fun things, their strategy is so simple: If you have a good starting hand make all in, if you don't just fold, this kind of playing style is most thing you see in early stages of freerolls and make the game so lucky, In my opinion first thing any beginner player should learn is how to make luck's effect less,
making an All-in pre-flop is the most luck based thing that you can do in poker

2- Bad Players, Bad Beats:

If you are a freeroller I'm sorry but most of freeroll players are not good enough and making bad decisions sometimes this bad decisions comes with very very good luck, for a example in many freeroll tables you see a person that make all in with 96o after the flop (imagine he has a pair of 6 )you call his bet with AA and he make a set on river just by luck, In this kind of situations must beginner players will get angry and maybe stop playing poker for ever

3-Waste of time:

Most of freeroll take so long because there are too many players involved. If you take a look at ratio of prize pool and entrants, you'll be noticed the prize pool and places paid are so low and It is not wise to spend time, You can watch twitch streams or play on micro buy-in tournaments for beginning of your poker career.


At last I must apologize for my bad English but at least i tried my best
Freerolls are a great place for having fun as a poker player and don't bother yourself to win such tables
There maybe more reasons but i can't remmeber right know
I'll be glad to know your opinions on this topic
and you can point out my English grammar problems.

you make some valid points, but i ask you this...in a game like freerolls when you are just learning poker, are you likely playing against yourself?...teaching yourself proper hand discipline and basic strategy in certain situations with little risk involved.

I agree with all your points. Especially if you're literally learning the game and the rules for the first time, diving in head first into freerolls without other experience isn't advisable. However, once someone gets an idea of the rules, strategies, and general rules of thumb for how many people play in these times of tournaments, freerolls are a great low-risk opportunity to play in a big tournament for free with the potential to start a bankroll without spending actual money.

Good post, most of all it kills me ALLIN with very weak cards which after the river are victorious. Freerolls are definitely not the best way to learn how to play poker, but without losing)))

Originally Posted by mt2lhd

First of all, I must mention that this tips are just for someone started playing poker recently and wants to improve his game experience and learn much more about games
Many people told me if you want gain some game experience play freerolls, Then I took this advice and played so much freerolls in many different poker rooms and considered those tournaments as a learning session, but after one or two month I've noticed that I didn't catch any improvement so I analyzed more about freerolls and this is why I don't recommend freerolls for learning poker:

1-All in or fold mechanism:

Most of freeroll players take this tournaments as a fun things, their strategy is so simple: If you have a good starting hand make all in, if you don't just fold, this kind of playing style is most thing you see in early stages of freerolls and make the game so lucky, In my opinion first thing any beginner player should learn is how to make luck's effect less,
making an All-in pre-flop is the most luck based thing that you can do in poker

2- Bad Players, Bad Beats:

If you are a freeroller I'm sorry but most of freeroll players are not good enough and making bad decisions sometimes this bad decisions comes with very very good luck, for a example in many freeroll tables you see a person that make all in with 96o after the flop (imagine he has a pair of 6 )you call his bet with AA and he make a set on river just by luck, In this kind of situations must beginner players will get angry and maybe stop playing poker for ever

3-Waste of time:

Most of freeroll take so long because there are too many players involved. If you take a look at ratio of prize pool and entrants, you'll be noticed the prize pool and places paid are so low and It is not wise to spend time, You can watch twitch streams or play on micro buy-in tournaments for beginning of your poker career.


At last I must apologize for my bad English but at least i tried my best
Freerolls are a great place for having fun as a poker player and don't bother yourself to win such tables
There maybe more reasons but i can't remmeber right know
I'll be glad to know your opinions on this topic
and you can point out my English grammar problems.

Thank you for your post. I agree sir. Poker freerolls should be played for fun and not experience. Players do not value chips so they will call or go all in with anything. That should make it easy but it actually makes it much more difficult for two reasons. One if you are at a table with decent players you will maintain an average stack or improve slightly. If other players are at a reckless table then they can end up with 5 or 10 starting stacks in the first couple levels. Once all the maniacs are out of the tournament you have a few players with ridiculous chip stacks that just see every flop because they can or raise every hand. I understand the strategy of bullying small stacks in a tournament setting. I would just like to explain to the newer players that it is extremely difficult to succeed when you are in this position. So don't think it directly reflects upon your poker playing ability. Second reason I believe is that nobody actually cares so you usually can't bluff so you are just seeing flops hoping you have the best hand. It's more of a gamble then an actual poker event. Cards chat has a freeroll club. These events are actual tournaments with skilled players. I recommend you play these events and then discuss situations within the forum to improve. Good Luck


Good Luck To All

I disagree for this reason, to learn at poker you need hand experience.

Freerolls should not be the only way you learn, but it can help you build confidence, learn what hands to play and where, and learn stack management.

Of course you find idiots playing freerolls. I just lost a tournament in the early rounds with an AKo. Chip leader went all in with 45s, I called, another player called with 59o. I understand the chip leader was being a bully, and I figured I had a good chance of doubling up early. But what the heck was the guy with 59o thinking?

Freerolls are a great tool for learning, but they can't be the only tool. They give you hand experience without any cost but time, but you have to understand that half the villains are insane.

I agree with you,when you play for cash,it is rly different game.
But you must know in freeroll is free money

I don't agree whit this post. Are you assuming that you don't find this type of player in micro-limits or low-stakes? Because it is full of them and you should also know how to play against and exploit them. Even when you face opponents who are just having a good time, you will gain experience on how to play and recognize behavior patterns. The value is there, you just have to be willing to see it.

Originally Posted by MrAlabama

you make some valid points, but i ask you this...in a game like freerolls when you are just learning poker, are you likely playing against yourself?...teaching yourself proper hand discipline and basic strategy in certain situations with little risk involved.

you are right but this is not mind of any beginner player
When people make none sense playing in freerolls and win chips just by luck a beginner may think this is the right way to playing poker and that will totaly destroy his mindset about the game, but somehow i agree with you in basic strategies in freeroll

Originally Posted by BIGAUS

I agree with all your points. Especially if you're literally learning the game and the rules for the first time, diving in head first into freerolls without other experience isn't advisable. However, once someone gets an idea of the rules, strategies, and general rules of thumb for how many people play in these times of tournaments, freerolls are a great low-risk opportunity to play in a big tournament for free with the potential to start a bankroll without spending actual money.

i think the best way to learn poker in early stages are off-table and for testing the learnings it's better to have a little bankroll and test in micro chips, but along side this freerolls are a option, but i never advice focusing on freerolls just for learning
there are many experiences that you can't get without pay money

Originally Posted by Only_player

Good post, most of all it kills me ALLIN with very weak cards which after the river are victorious. Freerolls are definitely not the best way to learn how to play poker, but without losing)))

the all-in thing happens to me many times i join freerolls but we can consider it as a fun event to join

Originally Posted by 0MRBLACK

Thank you for your post. I agree sir. Poker freerolls should be played for fun and not experience. Players do not value chips so they will call or go all in with anything. That should make it easy but it actually makes it much more difficult for two reasons. One if you are at a table with decent players you will maintain an average stack or improve slightly. If other players are at a reckless table then they can end up with 5 or 10 starting stacks in the first couple levels. Once all the maniacs are out of the tournament you have a few players with ridiculous chip stacks that just see every flop because they can or raise every hand. I understand the strategy of bullying small stacks in a tournament setting. I would just like to explain to the newer players that it is extremely difficult to succeed when you are in this position. So don't think it directly reflects upon your poker playing ability. Second reason I believe is that nobody actually cares so you usually can't bluff so you are just seeing flops hoping you have the best hand. It's more of a gamble then an actual poker event. Cards chat has a freeroll club. These events are actual tournaments with skilled players. I recommend you play these events and then discuss situations within the forum to improve. Good Luck


Good Luck To All

good points , i agree with you,i never tried CardsChat freerolls , i recently joined to the forum and surely i will try the Freerolls if had some free times, it will be fun for sure, it's nice to have a community for discuss hands and stuff..

Originally Posted by thehangdude

I disagree for this reason, to learn at poker you need hand experience.

Freerolls should not be the only way you learn, but it can help you build confidence, learn what hands to play and where, and learn stack management.

Of course you find idiots playing freerolls. I just lost a tournament in the early rounds with an AKo. Chip leader went all in with 45s, I called, another player called with 59o. I understand the chip leader was being a bully, and I figured I had a good chance of doubling up early. But what the heck was the guy with 59o thinking?

Freerolls are a great tool for learning, but they can't be the only tool. They give you hand experience without any cost but time, but you have to understand that half the villains are insane.

the 59o calling happens in all freerolls, i think it's better to do not focus on freerolls only,
playing micro buy ins and watching twitch streams also are good ways in learning path

Originally Posted by MrHachiman

I don't agree whit this post. Are you assuming that you don't find this type of player in micro-limits or low-stakes? Because it is full of them and you should also know how to play against and exploit them. Even when you face opponents who are just having a good time, you will gain experience on how to play and recognize behavior patterns. The value is there, you just have to be willing to see it.

thank you mentioned nice points, but luck by itself play an important role in freerolls and that will make many beginners disappointed about poker

Every penny I have in poker has come from freerolls. I've been playing for 15+ years. I started out on play money after getting into poker from watching it on TV. Freerolls can teach you discipline. I now play small stakes cash tables as well, and some satellites, but all the money came from freeroll winnings. I am under no illusion that I can play higher stakes. I qualified for the sunday million once and a few sunday storms and didn't last an hour in any of them. I prefer the no risk that freerolls provide. But I don't expect to improve my game.

If you can afford to then obviously buying into games will probably be better, but for a casual player it's hard to beat playing for free with a cash reward.

Hello! I quite agree with what you say, but those things happen in freerolls with free access, in more exclusive freerolls like those of cardschat with less people change things, there are no longer those looking for luck that make you a bad beat, they are more tournaments Serious, I think it is good for what they do not have available a bankroll, and you can create it based on these freerolls, greetings!

When you call an all in from any seat on a poker table, you are gambling your hand.
Because you had aces or King's it doesn't matter, its your tournament life.
Having a strong hand does not entitle any of us to gain easy chips in a tournament, most of the time.

I think that this type of play happens at every stake.

Poker is poker I think.

Originally Posted by mt2lhd

3-Waste of time:

Most of freeroll take so long because there are too many players involved. If you take a look at ratio of prize pool and entrants, you'll be noticed the prize pool and places paid are so low and It is not wise to spend time, You can watch twitch streams or play on micro buy-in tournaments for beginning of your poker career.

At last I must apologize for my bad English but at least i tried my best
Freerolls are a great place for having fun as a poker player and don't bother yourself to win such tables
There maybe more reasons but i can't remmeber right know
I'll be glad to know your opinions on this topic
and you can point out my English grammar problems.

What if this thread is also waste of time then

Since freerolls are not like regular tournaments, freeroll players do what they never do in tournaments for money

Originally Posted by Risto234

What if this thread is also waste of time then

i rather waste my time on other persons opinion than an eight hour freeroll for 25$ prize pool

Dude it's A FREEROLL FREE

As far as playing for experience I think it's really great but you need to start playing micros or higher? ASAP. Much different than real? tournaments ppl go nuts &/postflop intricacies will come out

Freeroll,micro stakes,midstakes and highstakes lets play poker all the same to me just adapt to the levels of buy ins you are playing.
Also learn and understand the huge differences between the different disciplines,tournaments,cash games sit and go, spin and go ect could delve deeper into these many concepts but it is late am tired win at all costs grow your bankroll.

You Tube

I pretty much agree with you. I'll even go further and say micro-stakes / low buy-in tournaments aren't much better. One thing these do help you learn is that the different stakes play much differently. For somebody getting into the game, I'd recommend a bankroll that's big enough to allow them to play $5 and $10 tournaments. Play seems to be much better at those levels and not that much different than the $100 - $500 tournaments I play in casinos.

Originally Posted by kowrip

I pretty much agree with you. I'll even go further and say micro-stakes / low buy-in tournaments aren't much better. One thing these do help you learn is that the different stakes play much differently. For somebody getting into the game, I'd recommend a bankroll that's big enough to allow them to play $5 and $10 tournaments. Play seems to be much better at those levels and not that much different than the $100 - $500 tournaments I play in casinos.

Its definitely 100% not good to try to learn poker at a freeroll no one is truly playing properly like they would if they had put up there own real cash everyone just shoves any hand in any position regardless of the pot or position you can have AA and your getting 8 callers 6 with absolutely nonsense hands and you will become so frustrated it's very annoying

I absolutely disagree with you! For any MTT format (including freeroll) there is a strategy game! I have seen in tournaments for 109 and 215 dollars people created such a game that any Freeroll will seem like a game at sky high limits!

Originally Posted by hugh blair

Freeroll,micro stakes,midstakes and highstakes lets play poker all the same to me just adapt to the levels of buy ins you are playing.
Also learn and understand the huge differences between the different disciplines,tournaments,cash games sit and go, spin and go ect could delve deeper into these many concepts but it is late am tired win at all costs grow your bankroll.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvsVDbYjWas

I completely agree with this post the key word is to adapt, it is not the same to play free, low, medium or high level, in all you must adapt and therefore you can gain experience in free especially if you are starting to play

Definitely would agree with most of those points though I do feel like once you make it to the top 100 or so it starts feeling like a good learning experience.

thank you all guys, you all made great points
but i only thing i meant by this thread was to clear this point for new learners that they should not just rely on Freerolls, I play Freerolls myself

I agree, the only thing freerolls can teach you is patience.

I disagree fundamentally because the #1 motivation to keep playing and learning poker is having the bankroll grow over time. Adding freerolls to my lineup of micro SNGs/MTTs has transformed me from infrequently depositing to steadily withdrawing $50-100/month. I've been at the game for nearly a decade and I wish I could go back to my previous self, where you are now, and give my head a shake.

However, I must admit it was my years of experience at the micro SNGs/MTTs that enabled me to get results in freerolls, and not the other way around. There is some merit in what you are saying OP. I don't want to discourage anybody from freerolls though, they are totally +ev and could make all the difference for you. Obviously the games with thousands of players for $25 or $50 prizepool are a waste of time. I always ensure the prize pool/player ratio is at least $0.25 and preferably closer to $0.50.

I agree with everything u wrote

Freerolls teach patience in the early rounds. Once a new player learns what cards to play and in what position, freerolls are a perfect tool. Add patience, and any new player can find themselves ITM quite often.

Of course freerolls are crazy at times, but they are quality when getting close to payoff. The quality improves as play gets towards the final table.

I would suggest any new player use freerolls to learn, Only advance to money tourneys when you can get ITM in freerolls about 20% of the time. At that point, use the freeroll winnings to play some low states MTT and add SnG games. You may find you need to make your first small deposit as an investment to your poker learning. Just assure yourself you can master each step of money before you move up.

Freerolls won't get you ready for the WSOP, but they will get you ready for micro MTT. Spend AT LEAST a month on freerolls, then $1 tourneys, then $5, then $10, then... During this time you must also use every other available resource to improve your game, including this forum.

Many of the reasons you mentioned are correct , but it does not apply everytime.

Actually freerolls are sometimes the best way to practice without spending a penny,

if a beginner starts and lose money there is A HIGH RISK that he will spend a lot of money "taken by a certain hype "

Even with some luck at the beginning of tournaments,

freerolls give the beginner the field of MTT to practice strategies he had learned on articles.

i think that the first important thing for a beginner is to NOT LOOSE a lot of money

Everyone has valid points (and a few invalid ones). To learn poker you need to play poker.. be it for play money or the up-coming 888 $100,000 free roll.
If you have learned that free rolls are a waste of time then you have learned something.
If you have learned that free rolls are (almost) free money then you have learned something.

Great experience of hands and vast players

Originally Posted by mt2lhd

First of all, I must mention that this tips are just for someone started playing poker recently and wants to improve his game experience and learn much more about games
Many people told me if you want gain some game experience play freerolls, Then I took this advice and played so much freerolls in many different poker rooms and considered those tournaments as a learning session, but after one or two month I've noticed that I didn't catch any improvement so I analyzed more about freerolls and this is why I don't recommend freerolls for learning poker:

1-All in or fold mechanism:

Most of freeroll players take this tournaments as a fun things, their strategy is so simple: If you have a good starting hand make all in, if you don't just fold, this kind of playing style is most thing you see in early stages of freerolls and make the game so lucky, In my opinion first thing any beginner player should learn is how to make luck's effect less,
making an All-in pre-flop is the most luck based thing that you can do in poker

2- Bad Players, Bad Beats:

If you are a freeroller I'm sorry but most of freeroll players are not good enough and making bad decisions sometimes this bad decisions comes with very very good luck, for a example in many freeroll tables you see a person that make all in with 96o after the flop (imagine he has a pair of 6 )you call his bet with AA and he make a set on river just by luck, In this kind of situations must beginner players will get angry and maybe stop playing poker for ever

3-Waste of time:

Most of freeroll take so long because there are too many players involved. If you take a look at ratio of prize pool and entrants, you'll be noticed the prize pool and places paid are so low and It is not wise to spend time, You can watch twitch streams or play on micro buy-in tournaments for beginning of your poker career.


At last I must apologize for my bad English but at least i tried my best
Freerolls are a great place for having fun as a poker player and don't bother yourself to win such tables
There maybe more reasons but i can't remmeber right know
I'll be glad to know your opinions on this topic
and you can point out my English grammar problems.

Reasons you should play freeroll in Cardschat

very competent players

chance to win $23 or more without risking your money

Originally Posted by mt2lhd

...
1-All in or fold mechanism:

2- Bad Players, Bad Beats:
3-Waste of time:
...

1. This is very Room-specific, on ACR on freerolls there are very few al ins, people tend to play poker not bingo. On PS its much more al ins. But anyway, you can just fold to any al in, and in late stage of tourney you would see more decent gameplay. I don't see much of a problem here.
2. Well bad beats are part of a game, and also its not like there are too many of them, i go AK vs 27 any day of the week. Bad beats teach us a lot too.
3. Come on, first of all you are learning poker. As for me when i was starting playing f-rolls, it was awesome just to win a tournament. And those 4 bucks i got for 1st place, thats awesome to not bother with depositing money, and also feels good - i did not put any money in poker, but i won these fifty or a hundred bucks. So not a waste of time. And also cause of a lot of al ins players go out very fast.
Anyway i think freerolls just as good as any other way to learn poker, well except for some expensive tournaments where u gonna go broke very fast

Originally Posted by Polytarp

Everyone has valid points (and a few invalid ones). To learn poker you need to play poker.. be it for play money or the up-coming 888 $100,000 free roll.
If you have learned that free rolls are a waste of time then you have learned something.
If you have learned that free rolls are (almost) free money then you have learned something.

What? 100 000 freeroll? What's up with 888 its not like its even the most popular room, why can they burn money like this?

You may have a bit of reason in what you say, but not only in freerolls are you going to find these situations, in every paid tournament you can find players who simply do all in-fold, you are going to find bad players and bad beats, I have played many tournaments with tickets (not freeroll) and another one paying my entrance, and I have had to play against people who each hand is all in, I have also met players who bet everything with any card and end up winning with cards weak, example: $ 109 tournament I had won a ticket, I entered to play and a player did not stop betting everything on all hands and if he lost all the chips he would re-buy , my point is not because it is a tournament paid all The players will be good or they will play correctly, in every tournament from freeroll to payment you will find all kinds of players and different types of situations, and to finish I do not think that playing freerolls is a waste of time, I think something can be learned from them

I believe that in the first place you must learn to play poker by watching videos, and then playing with play money, afterwards I think it is a good thing to play freerrols to get to the poker tournaments!

Originally Posted by mariale_1990

You may have a bit of reason in what you say, but not only in freerolls are you going to find these situations, in every paid tournament you can find players who simply do all in-fold, you are going to find bad players and bad beats, I have played many tournaments with tickets (not freeroll) and another one paying my entrance, and I have had to play against people who each hand is all in, I have also met players who bet everything with any card and end up winning with cards weak, example: $ 109 tournament I had won a ticket, I entered to play and a player did not stop betting everything on all hands and if he lost all the chips he would re-buy , my point is not because it is a tournament paid all The players will be good or they will play correctly, in every tournament from freeroll to payment you will find all kinds of players and different types of situations, and to finish I do not think that playing freerolls is a waste of time, I think something can be learned from them

This