Should we stop playing freerolls at some point?

[Warrior1961]

Hello everyone.

When is the time to hit the jump from freerolls to better quality tournaments?

Humbly I think that the free ones are good to generate bankroll from scratch but on the other hand in them you do not learn to play good poker, on the contrary, I think that the level equals downwards, except of course for the freerolls of my beloved Cardschat .

What do you think ? Is there a certain bankroll to drop the freerolls? How much is it ? $ 100, $ 200, $ 500, $ 1000? Is there a certain time, or is the question personal?

What bankroll do you have to have to play mtt tournaments? I for sits I think they are 200 buy in but perhaps I exaggerate being too conservative. For mtt 500 buy ins will it be ok?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Kind regards from Buenos Aires.

PS: Of course I am thinking about this for later in time since I am still a novice (almost a fish) and anyway I will keep playing the Cardschat freerolls forever because it is so nice to play with friends.

 

[hugh blair]

I think quitting freerolls when a player has a couple of hundred or a couple of thousand is a huge leak in their game personally.
6 digit roll lock down the roll keep free rolling,
7 digit roll ok maybe limit freerolls to the best 20 or 30 of them during the week,:captain:
Think of it long haul lets says $50 a week roughly across many sites including CardsChat ones for a year with average $2600 cash use it to play 23 Sunday million games a year finally bink one priceless.
All it is just another screen open once in awhile anyway for decent freerolls while grinding whatever limit your bankroll is comfortable at and I think it is ok to play everything from freerolls to high stakes.
Maybe though if have 6 tables open with $500 to $1000 buy ins on each table regularly freeroll just a bad distraction as the player really needs to focus elsewhere.

 

[Risto234]

When is the time to hit the jump from freerolls to better quality tournaments?

Probably after actually winning cardchat tournament (whenever this happens)

 

[DAVID KEHRER]

I keep playing them until i am ready to stop playing poker.

 

[run187]

If you make money from them I don't see any point in not playing them. You can play a freeroll and another tourney at the same time cut down the boredom as well.

I only play the micro sakes at the minute as that's all my bankroll or lack thereof only supports that ..

 

[Ranish625]

I think when you earn a good bankroll on freerolls, that's when it's time to switch to higher-level tournaments

 

[ph_il]

Hello everyone.

When is the time to hit the jump from freerolls to better quality tournaments?
...When you have BR to start taking shots are buy-in MTTs, you can.

But what is a 'better quality' MTT compared to freerolls? If you're talking about .10-$1 buy-in MTTs, the play is pretty much the same. Maybe even as high as $2-$5 you can expect bad play from a lot of players, just not as many.

So, maybe $10+ buy-in MTTs might be better quality MTTs in comparison to freerolls, but is it smart to take a jump that high? Especially if freeroll/microstake MTTs are giving you trouble?

Humbly I think that the free ones are good to generate bankroll from scratch but on the other hand in them you do not learn to play good poker, on the contrary, I think that the level equals downwards, except of course for the freerolls of my beloved Cardschat.
...I don't understand how playing freerolls can't help improve your overall game.

Yes, there are a lot of bad players in freerolls, but how do bad players affect your decision making and how you play? It doesn't, unless you let them. Do bad players affect a hand's equity or odds of big hands winning? No. Are you still able to work on bet sizing, extracting max value, hand reading, board reading, putting your opponent on ranges, calculating your pot odds v hand odds, etc? Yes, and all for free as well.

What do you think ? Is there a certain bankroll to drop the freerolls? How much is it ? $ 100, $ 200, $ 500, $ 1000? Is there a certain time, or is the question personal?
...If you have a small BR, say $10, then playing continuing to freerolls is a way to build it up. If you have a $100, then you likely don't need to play freerolls if you're following good BRM but it isn't like you have to drop them completely. It depends on if the freeroll is worth playing.

If I had a $100 BR for playing $1 MTTs, I'm not going to join a $10 GTD FR with 2000 players, $1 top prize. It just isn't worth my time. But if it's a $1000 GTD FR with 2000 players, $200 top prize, then that's worth going for. Even if I had $10K and there is a $1M GTD FR with $150K top prize, I'll play it.

What bankroll do you have to have to play mtt tournaments? I for sits I think they are 200 buy in but perhaps I exaggerate being too conservative. For mtt 500 buy ins will it be ok?
...Your BR management depends on you. Honestly, 500 buy-ins is a bit overkill IMO, but if you're comfortable with that, go for it.

If you're a recreational player, you're fine with 50-100 buy-ins for an MTT. You can go more if you want and less is bit risky, but if you're ok with reloading if you need to, then it's fine. I prefer not to reload my BR, so I take a bit of a more conservative route.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Kind regards from Buenos Aires.

PS: Of course I am thinking about this for later in time since I am still a novice (almost a fish) and anyway I will keep playing the Cardschat freerolls forever because it is so nice to play with friends.

Above.

 

[thehangdude]

I used the freeroll winnings to expand into cash games. It is a little different, but might be a way to go. Or you might try SnGs.

I like freerolls because there are no buy backs. This limits the time spent in the game. If you move to a tourney, you might want to try and find one that doesn't have people buying back in for three hours.

 

[BenSprocket]

Stop playing them immediately. You are learning nothing from them and life is far too short to be wasting your time playing so many hours for so little reward.

Open that debit card and get depositing.

 

[niphon56]

Win from CC freerolls to play buy-in tournaments.

 

[ph_il]

Stop playing them immediately. You are learning nothing from them and life is far too short to be wasting your time playing so many hours for so little reward.

Open that debit card and get depositing.

Late reg, jam, run good, win, profit.

Saves time.

 

[hugh blair]

Quote,

Open that debit card and get depositing.

Agree with Ben about his last point too though,think we need to deposit regularly also take advantage of every possible free ticket,bonus offer and reload promotion going as well as freerolling fanatically to give yourself more opportunities to grow bankroll.
Most important thing though is withdraw more than you deposit not easy but to succeed at poker helps if can do this.

 

[DS3]

I think quitting freerolls when a player has a couple of hundred or a couple of thousand is a huge leak in their game personally.
6 digit roll lock down the roll keep free rolling,
7 digit roll ok maybe limit freerolls to the best 20 or 30 of them during the week,:captain:
Think of it long haul lets says $50 a week roughly across many sites including CardsChat ones for a year with average $2600 cash use it to play 23 Sunday million games a year finally bink one priceless.
All it is just another screen open once in awhile anyway for decent freerolls while grinding whatever limit your bankroll is comfortable at and I think it is ok to play everything from freerolls to high stakes.
Maybe though if have 6 tables open with $500 to $1000 buy ins on each table regularly freeroll just a bad distraction as the player really needs to focus elsewhere.

Could not agree more.

I also think the debates concerning 'not good for your game' or ' not learning anything' are more about personal application than reality. Sure, many take them casually. I and certainly a few hundred other CC members do take them seriously and profit.

You used the term 'background noise' which sums up how I play many - not, I should note the CC FRs so much. But, I am on my computer regardless, so to punch up and play an ACR GTD FR is great- just focus through the key points in the tourney. There is no 'waste' of time and even if I min cash, it's a pick me up in the middle of the day, a small sense of accomplishment.

I am still not over the fact CardsChat exists and has assisted and directed me to such opportunities and hope I never take it for granted.

And for what it's worth I continually raise an eyebrow at threads which in some way or another ironically question/decry/devalue free rolls...on CardsChat itself. A site which exists to provide the best free roll opportunities for all its members. I presume people forget themselves and where they are posting which make me (mostly) laugh.

 

[Edu1]

Stop playing them immediately. You are learning nothing from them and life is far too short to be wasting your time playing so many hours for so little reward.

Open that debit card and get depositing.

what a limited way to view things man. with this mentality "life is too short" is better not play poker
because you will "waste" a lot of time , this is is a fact.
no matter the buy-in who you will play
the math behind a big reward is - much time + effort, there's no shortcut

 

[5KINGLEO5]

Freerolls are a good start to a bankroll. I think you need to have at least 300 buy-ins, a limit for a confident game.

 

[lezghin]

I think a very good question ... is it worth playing freeroll tournaments ... yes, you are probably right in something, to become a good player you need to play in real tournaments for your own money ... otherwise you won’t become a hasty player ... but it all depends on experience and your capabilities

 

[Garfield52]

I just enjoy playing the freerolls because I just want to play a game of cards to pass the time. I am not out to make a fortune. Trying to outwit other players is a challenge. The freeroll games can be a bit frustrating when the all inners play there foolish game and beat players that have great starting cards. Otherwise it all fun !!!

 

[Chief talking bull]

There comes a time when you build up a bankroll from freerolls and playing freerolls seems like a waste of time. With online poker you can burn that bankroll pretty quick after a few bad beats and a little bit of tilt. I've done it many times. The only advice I can offer is when that happens you have to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch again. It sucks but it's better than losing your hard earned money.

 

[Zorba]

Why say no to the chance of free money, I wouldn't play any freeroll, just the ones that have decent prize money in them and low No of entrants. I value my time and won't play a 4 hour plus tourny for pennies up top.

:top:

what a limited way to view things man. with this mentality "life is too short" is better not play poker
because you will "waste" a lot of time , this is is a fact.
no matter the buy-in who you will play
the math behind a big reward is - much time + effort, there's no shortcut

I'm fairly sure he was being sarcastic.:five:

 

[Therminator]

I don't think you ever necessarily need to stop with freerolls, doesn't matter how much bankroll I have, if I have the time to compete in a freeroll I'll do it. Especially the ones here since you have a lot less maniacs in CC Freerolls.

 

[caracaski220]

caracaski220

Freerolls are fine to start making a bank roll . However once you have a decent bankroll , I think small freerolls are counter productive, as the quality is much less and the play very different then cash play. The exeption to this would be playing as entertainment , to pass the time.

 

[natelearnspoker]

Gradually move up the stakes. I have never deposited but I’ve made roughly $75 from scratch and played $2.20 and $6.60 but eventually busted due to poor bankroll management. I would suggest incrementally moving up the MTT stakes where each buyin is roughly 2% of your bankroll. For instance, play freerolls til you have around $5 then you can play 10 cent MTTs and go up from there.

 

[lexyyxel]

Freerolls like video games you can die and reborn thousands times, the only cost is time, so this is fair especially when you play serious and having fan by getting some free money and a bit of adrenaline.
Also, you learn more about how to play with fishs, maybe you can understand why they play wired hands like all-in with K3!

 

[fosa17]

Freerolls are a plus and an opportunity not to lose, and also continues to be practice, you always learn day by day, it is an advantage in the long road of poker.

 

[63burner]

being picky..

If you get tired of the low payout and time commitment of the freebies with huge fields, and the ones that allow rebuys, be picky.
There are better free-rolls out there online. To To find them, you may have to do a little homework, on the web, and at your favorite poker sites, but it's worth it, getting a decent return on your time.