It Pays to Play Free Online Poker

by Bodog Poker | Sep 30 2009

You might think that playing free online poker might be nothing more than an entertaining pastime. But playing in free games has many other benefits beyond bragging rights. Some believe that if you're not playing for real money it's a waste of your time. But free games are a safe place for new players to learn the basics of poker without having to lose a bunch of money. Traditionally aspiring poker players didn't have this luxury, and had to pay some hard dues to become winning players. With so much free action readily available online today one can play anytime in any action they may wish to play.

Playing free games early in your poker development will not only save you tons of bets, but it will also allow you to understand how much losing is involved in poker. Winning players operate just above 50% of their win/loss variance, and must endure as many bad beats and deal card sessions as the rest of us do. Free games can teach you that patience is very important in poker, and that tilt and frustration are an express route to going broke. Even though the games are not real, there are many real poker lessens to learn when you play them.

Free tables have become popular enough that it's worth the casino's time to offer up cash or prizes in the form of freeroll tournaments. These events are open to all players who wish to enter them. Players can be completely busted out of their bankroll but they still get a chance to win money or tournament credits if they place deep enough in the freeroll event. Most online poker rooms offer daily freerolls, like the twice-daily $500 freerolls being offered in the Bodog poker room. A deep finish in a freeroll can get you back in the game or into a bigger event that could become a huge payday. Anything is good when it costs you nothing to enter.

Free online poker games tend to be looser in play than real money games. In a free game it's more likely that the pace will be fast and action will be wild. Many opponents don't take these events seriously and play their hands too fast or with complete abandon. It can be easy to accumulate chips early on in the tournament and ride the stack into the final stages. That alone is a good reason to play freeroll tournaments. Just play a tight style in the early going and try to grow your stack in the middle stages of the event.

Free poker games are a chance to learn something for free that would surely cost you money to learn traditionally. Practice your skills in the free games until you think that you're ready to play freeroll tournaments. And if you think that your skills have improved enough you can always try your luck in some real money action.

Looking for the thrill of a tournament? Try your luck at the Bodog 15 Days of Poker. There's lots of ways to get to the $15K Final and the promotion is a great way to test your knowledge of the different holdem tournament structures out there.