Poker Hands is the show where Doug analyzes live poker hands from tv poker shows such as Poker After Dark, EPT (European Poker Tour), High Stakes Poker, the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the. Jul 17, 2019 For online pros, it could be as low as 100NL (because being able to play more hands per hour and multi-table will help compensate for a lower bb/100 winrate for online vs live). Once you go pro and have no other funds to live off of, it’s imperative that you nit-up your Bankroll Management (BRM).
Online poker is now a very popular game that manages to attract a lot of people that are new to the concepts and strategies. The vast majority of online poker players are playing the tournaments since there they are given the chance to win prizes that are worth significant amounts of money.
The poker freerolls are offering a chance to play poker, win real money prizes and at the same time you don’t have to pay a fee to be part of them.
Frerolls quick menu :
One of the best ways to learn the strategies you have to adopt while playing online poker tournaments is by playing them and the freeroll tournaments are an excellent way to do it.
Back in the past when the number of new players that joined the freerolls used to be a lot higher and therefore it was easier to win them.
One of the first things that you should know about freeroll tournaments is that the players tend to be a lot more aggressive compared to a normal tournament and this way they are a little bit more careless about their stack of chips.
At the beginning of an online poker freeroll tournament you should always make sure that you play very tight. This means that you should never try to bluff or to play the hands that are not strong. You should just stick to the strong hands like AA, KK, AK and other hands that can be considered to be premium.
As the tournament evolves you need to adapt your strategy to the new conditions of the game. At the middle stages of a freeroll there will be a good number of players eliminated and it seems like a perfect time to do your best in accumulating more chips. This means that you need to loosen up your play and unless you are in the top 10 players, you should start taking some risks. Always take into consideration how much you are risking and what the amount of chips that you can win is.
The later stages of a poker freeroll game will also require you to adopt a new strategy once again. The number of players left out in the competition is low now and at the same time the blinds have started to become higher and higher. Here you need to adopt two different strategies based on the amount of chips that you still have available. In case you only have less than 10 big blinds available, you need to adopt a loose short stack strategy and play a higher number of hands. Basically you need to take any chance that might help you get to the final table.
The final table is going to be basically a heads up game between you and another player. Based on the amount of poker chips that you still have available, you will get the chance to choose the correct strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions about Poker Freerolls
Contents
- What is a freeroll poker tournament?
- Poker freerolls for US players
The freeroll poker tournaments have started to become more and more popular ever since they were introduced to online poker players. One of the reasons why they are so spectacular is because you are given the chance to win cash prizes with absolutely no financial commitment from you. The online poker freerolls are very popular at any online poker room and they manage to gather a big crowd. In this article we are planning to offer you all the information you need about freerolls by giving you the answers to the most common questions that a freeroll player might have.
What is a freeroll poker tournament?
The term freeroll describes an online poker tournament where you are given the chance to enter without having to pay an entry fee. While you don’t basically need to pay any money to play these tournaments, the vast majority of online poker sites will give you access to freerolls the moment you make a deposit (for the new depositors freerolls) or by using the VIP points you have earned playing poker for real money. The vast majority of the freerolls are the ones where you must pay with VIP points, which are given out based on the total amount of rake that you have contributed to the poker room.
The freeroll tournaments are very widespread at the online poker rooms, but you can also find it at land based poker rooms and the casinos are also offering freerolls for other games like blackjack, craps, slot machines or video poker.
Are these freeroll tournament 100% free?
While on first sight you might think that the freeroll tournaments are completely free, since most of the time this is how they are advertised, there is something that you should be aware of. There is no such thing as free lunch, in the online poker industry. This is the reason why the freeroll tournaments are technically free, but most of the time in order to be part of these tournaments you will have to use your VIP points, or to make a deposit at that poker room. So this means that you don’t have to pay anything from your online poker balance, but you will need to meet certain requirements in order to participate in a freeroll.
What should you expect to win from freerolls?
The prizes of freerolls are normally a lot lower compared to a multi table tournament. This is the reason why there are many people out there that just don’t take advantage of freerolls and they consider them a waste of time. These online poker tournaments are excellent for newbie players and also for those players that would like to improve their online poker tournament skills.
The average poker freeroll will have prizes that are worth starting from a couple of hundreds of dollars and going up to a few thousands. The size of the prizes is given based on the size of the poker room that organizes the tournament. Some online poker tournaments that are the most popular in the world, will even afford to give out freerolls with prizes that are worth up to $100K.
Why are freerolls offered?
The number one reason why freeroll tournaments are given out is because they are an excellent incentive for an online poker player to join a poker room and to get more familiar with the online poker tournaments. These are basically able to create a win-win situation for both the poker rooms and the players. The rooms become more popular since these tournaments attract a lot of crowd and the players are given the chance to win real money prizes with no financial risk involved.
How can you qualify for a freeroll tournament?
You can easily qualify for a freeroll tournament by making your first deposit or by gathering enough points that you have to use as a buy in fee.
How to play online poker for free
There are currently many ways you can play poker for free. Each and every online poker out there is after the freebies that this highly competitive industry has to offer. In this article we will offer you a clear overview of the most lucrative ways you can play poker for free.
No deposit poker bonus – There are still a couple online poker rooms out there that are still giving out free no deposit poker bonuses to players that are registering for their site for the first time. While these bonuses can’t be found at many rooms at the moment, you can still have a killer experience by taking advantage of them. One of the first things that you have to know about these bonuses is that they are completely free, and you don’t have to use your credit card or make a deposit. They will be given out to you simply for registering. They are credited automatically into your online poker account and in order to be able to cash out a no deposit poker bonus, you must meet the wagering requirements.
These terms and conditions of the no deposit bonus can be a useful tool to take into consideration in order to be able to compare the bonuses and sign up only for the softest conditions.
Freerolls – The freerolls are by far one of the best ways you can enjoy a poker game for free. What makes them so spectacular is the fact that they are completely free and at the same time you are given the chance to win some real money prizes that can sometimes reach even a couple of thousands of dollars at the most important freerolls that the online poker industry has to offer.
Sign up bonuses – Almost any online poker room out there is currently offering bonuses to those players that are signing up for the first time and make their initial deposit. While the bonus is not given out automatically when you sign up and it’s going to be given to you gradually as you start playing poker, you will be able to start enjoying the free money only after some time.
Overall you can easily do a lot of things that can help you play poker for free and win real money prizes. At the same time in case you are just looking to have a good time and you don’t care about playing real money poker, you can always download and install the online poker software from mostly any room out there and they will offer you the chance to play poker for play money. And this way you can sit back and enjoy the game with no stress related to the fact that you could be losing money.
How to build a bankroll with freeroll poker tournaments?
When you are just starting out as an online poker player you will find it rather difficult to survive at the tables and from time to time you might need to receive a little bankroll boost. In case you don’t plan to spend too much money on poker, there might appear some difficulties in financing your online poker games.
The online poker rooms have come up with the idea of offering some tournaments that are called freerolls, where you don’t have to pay anything to be part of them and you get the chance to win some real money prizes. These tournaments will require you most of the time to use the VIP points that you have managed to earn at the regular cash tables as an entrance fee.
This means that in case you are lacking a bankroll to play poker there is always the chance to build it with the help of the freeroll tournaments. In this article we are planning to offer you a couple of tips that are meant to improve your chance of winning the freeroll tournaments along with some tactics that can help you choose the best freeroll tournaments.
What are the best ways to build a bankroll with the help of freeroll tournaments?
Look for Private freerolls – There are many private freerolls available on different poker related forums, poker blogs and any other place where you can find them. The reason why these freeroll are a lot better than the other ones is because usually the number of players that join them is a lot lower and this means that you have to compete with a lower number of people for the same prize.
Always join the new depositor’s freerolls – While these freerolls might not have a large prize pool but they are certainly filled with newbies. These are probably the best type of freerolls that you can join and receive a little bankroll boost.
Take the shortcuts – In case you are hunting freerolls, then you should definitely start building your play chips bankroll. After that you can use these chips to participate at certain freerolls.
While playing freerolls you should think that you have absolutely nothing to lose. Some might say that you are wasting time, but the truth is that in case you are still a beginner it makes perfect sense to play freerolls since this is the best and the cheapest way to gain experience.
Overall the freeroll poker tournaments represent an excellent benefit for the online poker players that signed up for a various number of online poker sites. While playing freeroll tournament you can have a lot of fun, gain a lot of experience and the best thing about it is that you are given the possibility to win sometimes a large prize at the end of the tournament.
The advantages and disadvantages of freerolls
In case you have already played live poker before, the concept of freeroll might become a little bit surprising for you. There are no casinos or land based poker rooms out there in the real world that will offer you as many “free lunches” as an online poker room.
A freeroll is a poker tournament where you don’t have to pay any money to be part of it and at the same time you are given the chance to actually win real money prizes. Some freerolls are offered to players the moment when they sign up as a welcome gift. While other freerolls can be joined with the help of the Frequent Player Points that you earn while playing poker.
Here in this article we are going to provide you with all the benefits and disadvantages that you can get from playing a freeroll poker tournament.
- Freeroll Poker Tournaments Advantages
It’s 100% Free – The number one benefit that the freeroll poker tournaments hold is the fact that they are free. This means that you don’t have to pay or risk any of your money in order to be part of these poker tournaments.
Great prizes – While the vast majority of freeroll poker tournaments are going to offer you the chance to win some relatively small prizes that are around $50. During the weekends and at some of the most popular online poker rooms, you get the chance to find online, freeroll poker tournaments with prizes that are worth even thousands of dollars. The feeling that you have when you will win a freeroll poker tournament is definitely great, since it feels like you’re getting free money.
Learn how to play poker tournaments – The freeroll poker tournaments are considered to be an excellent way to learn the basic strategies that have to be used in an online poker tournament. And since the freeroll poker tournaments are available for free, you have nothing to lose.
Soft competition – The freerolls are an excellent place for a beginner thanks to the fact that you will get the chance to find a soft competition at the tournament tables. Winning a freeroll tournament is most of the time going to be a lot easier compared to a normal buy in guaranteed tournament? This is the reason why we definitely recommend these tournaments to beginners.
- Freeroll Poker Tournaments Disadvantages
Time Consuming – Some of the biggest online poker freerolls, is definitely where the big prizes are. These tournaments might sometimes last for 4 to 6 hours. This is the reason the more experienced poker players are thinking of the freeroll tournaments to be very time consuming.
Poor payouts – The average payout that you will receive from winning a freeroll poker tournament is most likely going to be very poor compared to a normal online poker tournament. This is the reason why you should always be advised and make sure that once you are starting to become a more experienced poker player, the freeroll tournament are no longer the best choice for you.
Overall the advantages of the freeroll poker tournaments tend to dominate the eventual disadvantages that these tournaments might bring. And since these tournaments are given to you absolutely for free while you get the chance to earn real money prizes, you got nothing to lose.
Poker freerolls for US players
With the help of online poker freerolls you can get a good bankroll boost without having to risk any of your hard earned money that you have available in your poker account. Ever since the Black Friday of poker it started to become more and more difficult to find a decent poker room that accepts US players and that offers a good amount of freerolls. Now that the giant poker rooms: Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars are gone or no longer accept US players, you have to turn your head towards the other rooms that are still left on the US market. In this article we are planning to offer you a clear overview of some of the most important freeroll tournament that are still available for US players.
Cake Poker Freerolls:
The Cake Poker is packed with tons of freerolls that allow you to win real money without having to risk any money of your own. There is always a freeroll schedule available at the end of the Tournaments tab.
One of the very first freeroll tournaments that you are able to play at Cake Poker is the new depositor’s freerolls. They are worth $500 and they take place once per week on Saturday at 2 PM Eastern Time.
There is also a $1000 Bankroll Freeroll that takes place weekly on Saturday at 2.15 PM Eastern Time. You can earn your way to this Cake Poker freeroll by taking place at the daily Bankroll freeroll satellites.
The money that you earn from the Cake Poker freerolls will be deposited directly into your online poker account as real money, but in order to do that you must earn at least 2 Gold Chips in your account. You can do that even after you have already won a freeroll tournament prize.
Carbon Poker Freerolls :
Carbon Poker just like any other great US friendly online poker room is offering a multitude of freeroll tournaments. As a new player, when you make your first purchase with Carbon Poker, you are awarded a 14 days entry to the $500 Depositors freeroll. In addition to that there are also 5 freeroll tournaments that have prizes of $200 and are free to join for any member that would like to get a bankroll boost. In addition to these freerolls, Carbon Poker also offers two VIP freerolls with prizes that are worth $3.5k and $10K.
Lock Poker Freerolls:
Lock Poker has just launched a brand new poker network and they are currently one of the best destinations available for US players. The moment you make the first purchase with Lock Poker you will be entered automatically in the daily $500 First Deposit Freeroll. In addition to that there are also a variety of $200 freerolls that take place on a daily basis.
Bovada Poker Freerolls :
Bovada Poker is packed with one of the largest amounts of freerolls. Every month they claim to give away more than $15K as freeroll prizes. In order to be part of these freeroll tournaments you just need to earn enough Poker Points and use them to pay for the buy in.
Be honest, how many of you reading this article have wanted to be an online poker pro at some point since discovering such a thing was possible? I know I have — and on more than one occasion.
Being able to play poker for a living seems like the perfect job — for someone who loves poker at least. But it’s harder than you would like to believe. How to be an online poker pro? We have six quick poker tips for you to set you on your way to your dream job.
How to become a professional online poker player in one easy step would be to quit your job and use poker as your sole source of income. While this instantly makes you a poker pro, it is not advised, not even a tiny amount, for reasons that we’ll cover shortly.
1. Study all aspects of the game
Studying the game of poker is crucial if you want to learn how to succeed as a professional online poker player. When you think you have learned all there is to learn about poker, you need to study and research even more. In fact, you should never stop learning because standing still in this game means you’re going to be left behind.
Read articles on PokerNews, check out the 10 most important poker strategy books ever written, join a training site, or hire a coach. Any edge you can create for yourself will eventually lead to profits.
You can also practice playing no limit hold'em and pot limit Omaha cash games and tournaments for free at WSOP Social Poker. The games are completely free to play, meaning you can play poker for fun, try new things and never risk any of your bankroll.
2. Prove you’re a winning player
Remember how we said that handing in your notice and jumping straight into being a professional poker player isn’t a good idea? This is one of the main reasons why: you need to prove to yourself you know how to be a profitable online poker player first.
Many people bag a big score in a tournament, or win the equivalent of two months’ wages at the cash tables and start thinking that this game is an easy way to make a living. Wrong!
You need tens of thousands of cash game hands and tournaments (if not hundreds of thousands) to prove you’re a winning player. If you’re not a winning poker player over the long term, you’ll soon be heading back to your old boss cap-in-hand hoping to be reemployed.
Is This Your First Step To Becoming a Poker Pro?They say practise makes perfect and what better way to improve your online poker skills than by doing so without any risk at all to your poker bankroll? This is possible at WSOP Social Poker because it is a free-to-play online poker site that has cash games and tournaments running around the clock.
Try out new strategies completely free at WSOP Social Poker and set yourself on the way to becoming a professional poker player.
Play Now3. Be realistic
Poker Cash Game Bankroll
Once you’ve ascertained that you’re a winning poker player, it’s time to begin trying to figure out how many hands or tournament you’ll need to play in order at least to match your previous salary. Here’s where many people fail.
When you have a salaried job, you are usually paid on the same date every month regardless of how productive your week or month is (within reason). You’re almost certainly paid while on vacation, or if you’re sick.
Are you really going to sit grinding for 60 hours every week?
The fact you have to go to work five days per week is probably enough to make you get out of bed and go to your job. But what if none of that was true?
You may have aspirations of making $150,000 a year
, and that may be possible. But make sure you factor in at least three full weeks “holiday.” You should also plan for being sick and unable to play for a couple of weeks per year. Also, ask yourself — are you really going to sit grinding for 60 hours every week? Do you think you can make enough money at $0.25/$0.50 to warrant giving up your job?How many online poker pros are there who wake up at 12:00 p.m., play online poker for two hours, and then swan off enjoying life to the max. The answer is not many, and those who do generally don’t succeed as professional online poker players for any meaningful length of time.
4. Give playing poker professionally a trial run
Even if you have done all of the above, you should at least give playing for a living a trial run, so you have experience of how to play online poker professionally.
Take a week’s holiday from your job and spend the next five working days doing nothing but playing poker (at least you’ll be getting paid even if you have a bad week!). You may surprise yourself at how difficult it is to motivate yourself to play poker non-stop for a week. Or how after four hours grinding you suddenly lose all concentration. Or how after losing 15 buy-ins during the first three days you no longer want to get out of bed at 7:00 a.m.
It’s best to find out you’re not cut out for the life of a poker pro before you take the plunge into playing for a living.
5. Build a big bankroll and liferoll
You haven’t gone through all the previous steps but still think you know how to be an online poker pro. That’s fine, but do you have a bankroll and your other finances in order?
Most poker pros like to have at least six months’ worth of life expenses tucked away in a separate bank account in case things go pear-shaped. Dipping into your poker bankroll to cover your bills is a big no-no.
Your bankroll should be larger than a recreational player would have because you never want to drop down in stakes. Doing so, dropping down that is, makes it harder to reach your monetary goals — much harder. It’s better to be a bankroll nit than it is going broke.
6. Act professionally
Professional poker players often cite the freedom it gives them for playing for a living, but that’s not to say you shouldn’t have a professional attitude towards the job. Some of the best poker players in the world are extremely disciplined and in their approach every single day.
You wouldn’t rock up to work and put your feet on the desk or lounge around on the sofa with your laptop, so don’t do it as a poker pro. How to become a professional poker player? Starting acting like one, a professional that is.
This article was originally published on Jul. 5, 2017. Last update: Jun. 20, 2019.
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