Tournaments for under a dollar

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HaroldHouse

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You might want to start SnGs. Doesnt take much time or money, but you can get a good grasp of fundamentals.
 
Alizona

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I have run up bankrolls on multiple sites solely via playing freerolls on those sites.

I enjoy the challenge of trying to go from "Zero To Hero". It's definitely not easy!

Since I'm retired, I have all day to play poker. And believe me... using my method, you need all those long hours. And there is a lot of frustration along the way. Multiple times, I earned a few dollars and lost them, and had to go back to playing the freerolls before I could try again.

The beauty of using this method is, it costs nothing but an investment of your free time. Unfortunately, not all sites run freerolls (which I'll never understand but it's their site and their rules). But on the sites that do, I play all the time. On one site I've gone from zero dollars to over 700, that's my best. On another site I've gotten as high as 15 dollars and then fell back to around 7, and now I'm back to 12. It's a grind, but a fun one, and I highly recommend it!!

The main reason I play this way instead of depositing my own money is because:
(a) I'm from America and its practically considered criminal behavior here to try and transfer money from my bank onto a poker site. So I don't even try.
(b) I don't do bitcoin because I don't believe in it, bitcoin has no tangible value except for some bits in a computer memory, I don't consider it to be "real" money.

The main drawback to my method is that I'll never be able to withdraw my funds after I run it up to over a million dollars (gotta have a dream!!!). LOL Besides the fact I don't use bitcoin to withdraw funds, the main problem is that poker sites have specific rules for people withdrawing money who haven't ever deposited. The rule usually involved the poker site requiring you to earn a specific amount of rake before they will allow a withdrawl, and that rake requirement is usually very very high. But I'm fine with it, because I don't play poker to get rich (I know I'm weird), I play poker solely because I love to play poker. The only reason I want a big bankroll is because I want to play the best poker players and become a good poker player too... gotta have the bankroll to be able to play against those guys and gals. :)

Good luck at the tables, whatever you decide!!!
 
7CardKillR

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I would say play the lowest buy ($.25 - $1.00) in small field (< 300) regular speed (8-12 minute levels) on 100-200 bb starting stack MTTs you can find. the variance on these are way lower than the odd 1000 player free roll.
 
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sundizzel

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When trying to grind out a bankroll, regardless of buy-in level, you need as much volume as possible to account for variance in tournament play. Also, there are all sorts of tournaments (freerolls with 1,000+ runners; private freerolls with a couple hundred or less; homegames that usually have a buy-in but for which tickets are often given away earlier in the day by the Twitch streamer hosting the homegame; super micro large and small field tourneys, as well as smaller field sit and go's). Ultimately, your best bet is playing them all a bit and determining which one you perform best in. Then, that should be your bread and butter.

If you're playing only freerolls and super micro stakes (which is what I'm doing right now), it can be difficult to generate enough volume to overcome variance in general. However, it can be done; I'm currently playing approximately 20 tournaments per day across 3 different sites with a total average buy-in of about $1. I try to abide by the 0.3% and 1.0% average buy-in for MTTs and SNGs respectively, so I can't justify registering for tournaments over $0.55 at the moment. If you're starting bankroll is a few hundred bucks or so, you could justify higher buy-ins and, therefore, greater volume.

Regarding the variance in the tournaments, freerolls are extremely wild with some people playing any two cards. I would suggest a tight-aggressive playstyle. I don't mean nit, but play cards with good value or when you have good odds and play them aggressively to dominate fish bluffs and weak hands. I would refrain from too much bluffing and even semi-bluffing yourself, as the pot winner tends to have the nuts in these tourneys.

Once you get up to $0.55 and higher, there is a noticeable difference from the freerolls. You will probably see some more bluffs, marginal hands being played, and value bets. In these tourneys, playing tight-aggressive may work, but you have to win your flips. Loosening up a bit should be more profitable. Once you get above $3 buy-ins, the poker should be pretty decent, although there will always be fish torching some cash!
 
AmidamaruRu

AmidamaruRu

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try sng, then go to tournaments. they will take less time, but the profit can be more than in tournaments
 
antonis32123

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With bankroll management , if you have enough knowledge of NLH , you could play the less than dollar tourneys , most for experience , profits very difficult , csuse they call ATC . ACR has many tourneys under a dollar or close to a dollar . Also pokerstars . You can search pokerrooms and find the one with the structure that you like most . Good luck
 
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63burner

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paying a little is worth it if u have BRM

If you are starting out, the freerolls are a grind, a tough way to go to make money. Given the time needed to invest to get ITM in a freeroll, as others suggest, try as small a sit and go, maybe some small buy-in MT.
Be incremental, step by step. Not many players are immediate, consistent winners, be patient with your game.
Try not to focus only on results if you are just starting poker tournaments, not many get ITM, it's difficult for everyone. Just try to build, learn, from every session, win or lose. And since you';re betting within your BR shows signs you are a responsible player, good luck at the tables.
 
oakthyago

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you need to learn about bankroll management. usually you wanna play a tournament that has a buy in equal to 1/50 or 1/100 times your bankroll.

of couse you need to learn a lot about poker to start to be a profit player. sit and go of 9 players use to be a good opition to starters because they have all the stages of poker in a kind a short time.

hope that I helped somehow
 
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1nsomn1a

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Playing in such tournaments will introduce you to the basics of poker, and give you a little experience, but objectively, it will not help against opponents in expensive tournaments, because micro-limits have a different attitude to the game. I do not advise you to stay there for a long time, always strive for better games and more expensive tournaments if you really want to achieve a lot in poker.:)
 
theANMATOR

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Also, you wont end up spending 4 hours in a tournament just to burst on the bubble, which is always quite depressing when it happens.
I would argue this is an experience that needs to be taught/learned/experienced as well. Best to do it at the lowest stakes possible - so it doesn't hurt so much and ya get used to it happening - cause it's gonna happen a lot. LOL
 
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benrasberry

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It's a good idea to 'fail cheap' when you are getting started with poker. Play the smallest stakes you can find if you have little to no budget.
 
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Minakshi

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Ya I prefer freerolls to low buyins
 
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alien666dj

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If you don't have much money you can play 45 man multi-table Sit&Gos for $0.25 $0.50 $1.00 and similar 6-9 man single table Sit&Go's to gain experience while also working on your game.
 
lyki67

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It's good for player who can't deposit from their country. I play freerolls and low buyin tourneys.
 
Akuana

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I'm trying to conquer this level. So far without success.
 
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zipocool

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well, this is not a waste of time and money at the beginning of a poker career, these tournaments provide an opportunity to understand the game + it will be a good practice, but of course, there is no point in playing such tournaments for a long time, since you can’t earn big money there, and they will also be useful only for completely novice players
 
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beatlebug

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Low buyins in a freeroll are much appreciated. I do enjoy playing them. You don't have to spend too much money on them and the winnings are good.

Beatlebug
 
Kennemelo

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Low buyins in a freeroll are much appreciated. I do enjoy playing them. You don't have to spend too much money on them and the winnings are good.

Beatlebug


I agree! at the same time, these tournaments have a fairly adequate and predictable lobby (not without rare exceptions, of course)
 
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HeiligerKevin

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I think at the beginning you should play lower buy-in tournaments to first learn and set-up your game. But in the first few levels I experienced some people making just some very bad calls (like with only a back-door-flush-draw), because they just don't care about losing low amounts of money.
 
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Boo02

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Hey guys! I wanted to ask you about your experience of poker tournaments (on the PC) for under a dollar. As I'm currently a student, I can't afford buy-in tournaments that are more expensive than a few dollars (haven't played one yet) but I would like to try winning real money. Is it a waste of money to play such tournaments because there are often a lot of participants in such tournaments and the chance of winning is lower as a result?



Just find some MTT's which suit you. I played Bounty Builder Turbo 1K for 1,1$ at PokerStars, couple of weeks ago. Later 3,3$. Now i changed it to 5-11$ still bounty but regular speed.

Bunty Buidler -> because you are getting cash for eliminating players. You dont need too wait for payable places. You can track down weak players and hunting them :p

In my opninion Turbo is the best because it's still enough place to play. With weak opponets you dont need more time.
 
blef121

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I think that such tournaments are more suitable for those who have little poker capital because there is a chance that you will at least return half of your buy-in or even go into plus
 
Alexey Shley

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You can develop patience and build your game plan in low limit games, but big money doesn't come close unless you're willing to play 8-10 hours in one tournament for a $20 prize. There is a lot of pain and suffering in such tournaments, because when you use everything correctly, you can be outplayed by an aggressive player with trash pocket cards after 4 hours of play, this is very unpleasant. Gain experience and play at higher limits.
 
RomanBorreli

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until your bankroll is at least $ 100, but few people do it, everyone wants everything at once, I roll the backs try
 
Whompus

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I've played em and find myself bored really quick which leads to playing alot of hands I normally wouldn't play. I mean it's not even a dollar, and the prize is set up in a way that you really only win 10-20 bucks for 1st.. seems like a waist of time to me.. but I keep finding myself in them trying to coin flip thru..lol
 
funnyhook3

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I don't like these tournaments. there is usually a very small guarantee. You will not always be able to get to 1st place, and the rest of the prizes are very small. Too much time to spend on this is not hunting
 
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