Are freerolls really worth it?

[Ogma]

And which category are you in?

Both! And sometimes in consecutive hands!

 

[valeski 28]

Yes, they are , and I enjoy playing them. Sadly, due to some regulations in my country,I can only play them on GG and ACR.

 

[thedarkman]

If you can multi-task, go for it. At the moment I'm doing okay in a small PLO8 and watching a documentary about Gary Ridgway.

 

[R.Melnyk77]

If you value your time, then it's probably better not to spend it on freerolls. But if my free time is just lying on the couch and watching TV, then I'd rather spend it playing, especially if it's a freeroll

 

[Igor Popadyk]

I agree that freerolls are more for fun, that is, they take a lot of time and nervous energy, and if you play them a lot, you can lower your level of play

 

[Suns of Beaches]

It depends on personal goals. In the past with all the tournaments here, yes they were definitely "worth" it.

 

[neptunas888]

Yes, I’m also annoyed by the ridiculous moves in tournaments, and the cheaper the tournament, the more players play with garbage hands

 

[kaynbergo]

I am also very upset with players who come third or fourth in the all-in pot no matter what the hell happens, and your AA is no longer so strong, but you can't avoid this in vrrolls and micro-limits. As I understand it, most players play there without even knowing the rules of the game, they just press buttons randomly and sometimes they are lucky

 

[Pabloro10321]

Freerolls are profitable, you should know which one to play and how much time to spend on it, they also serve as training

 

[ztibor72]

If you can invest your time better, for example, you are a winner in the micro-stakes games, then it is not worth it.
If you only play as a hobby sometimes and you have extra time for it, then it's worth it.

 

[dzsire]

If I could start my poker career over again, I would certainly not transfer money to any site, but would only manage money won from freerolls.
It would be more difficult, but maybe I would save the money I transferred, just because I saw for the first time as an example that you should transfer and play.

 

[thetick33]

First thing you may answer is: "of course, they are free", but what about wasting time, your stress?
Yesterday I've lost: AK x A3 / KQ x 98 / TT x 87s / AQ x 38 (all preflop)

Again, you may say "of course, it's a thing called variance"
But I desagree. Of course variance exists and we should deal with it, but no where in the world a player would call an all in (over 20~30bbs) with A3 or 38. That really piss me off!!

Here's my graph that says that I mainly play freerolls, Yeah, it's only "for fun",but thinks really stress me out.
Paying a USD2,00, even if is an insignificant ammount, would chance things?

View attachment 364760

First i consider anything $6.00 or less to be micro stakes basically and your gonna get the same results but have i seen even freeroll play at $20.00 up yes....same hands your bitching about...Look back in day 2005 say you could play freerolls all day every day and make BANK now you cant so far in 3 months i am up to like 130 in wins on freerolls got lucky on wsop Michigan for a 10k event...no cc wins....but ill take it....Freerolls need to be added into the mix and as stated its free its not messing with your money...So ya to answer your ?? anytime anywhere people will play anything....sounds like you need to just take a day off then get back on the horse again

 

[thetick33]

And not only for freerolls I might add. Avoiding bad beats is never a good reason to move up, because they are part of the game. And in general its also not a good reason to move up, that you want to avoid bad players. But with that being said there are times, where it might be more enjoyable to play against slightly better players, who care a bit more about not losing.

If for instance people regularly just ship it in with 50BB preflop, that does take away the option for everyone else to play a more normal game, where they get to see some flops, turns and river and make more complex decisions. And this is why, it might be more enjoyable as well as more educational to play for instance a $5 tournament rather than a freeroll, even if your main goal is not to make money. Plus the fact that the excitement of potentially winning $300 from a $5 investment is arguable larger for most people than the excitement of potentially winning $10 from a $0 investment.

Or lets put it this way. If you were very rich and did not need any more money but really enjoyed poker for the competitive element, would you go to Las Vegas and play the WSOP main event, or would you play online freerolls? Or if you did not have time to go to Las Vegas, would you play freerolls, or would you play tournaments like Sunday Million on PokerStars, or Venom on ACR? Lets be honest now and admit, that the main reason, people play freerolls or microstakes games "for fun", is because, they cant afford more expensive games

well im cheap so you got me on the cant afford i can afford honestly just do NOT like depositing money and have NOTHING but time so freerolling is what i do haha....Hardheaded but first game 2003 acr was freeroll rolled into 3k range...put on probably 100 sites in hayday lol never deposited truly till like 2018 anywhere was always winnings....put in maybe 100 so far in deposits in life...as said im cheap....i have decent money living with folks for now dad is 81 so spending time while can but ya im still going freeroll but im only playing here for now honestly is other sites could run up and do some freerolls so im not fully serious but having fun with the group again so sticking to that for now...also have no real goals just have fun be nice enjoy self and for me i dont get frustrated over losses its poker i get mad for a minute but is what it is not my time ill have plenty of luck overtime I know this

 

[Cooking]

I think it depends of freeroll. I don’t think those freerolls with a small prize and thousands of players worth my time, unless it’s super turbo like those ones in 888poker. In general, I only play the freebies in GGpoker and freerolls with requirements that have less players.

 

[Leomar993]

Acho que os freerolls podem nos ensinar que faz muito pouco sentido jogar a maioria das mãos all-in pré-flop. Digo "pode" nos ensinar porque, como acontece com a maioria das coisas na vida, temos que estar realmente dispostos a aprender.

Os exemplos citados acima provam isso. E há muitos, muitos, muitos mais.

Não há livros sérios e cursos sérios sobre pôquer que defendam jogar all-in como o estilo de torneio padrão. Então, onde pegamos esse péssimo hábito? Os sites de pôquer geralmente o incentivam com suas estruturas de blinds. Eles querem que jogadores amadores vejam o pôquer como um jogo de azar puro, em vez de uma atividade séria baseada em habilidades. Freerolls e torneios de apostas baixas quase sempre têm blinds mais altos e intervalos de blinds mais curtos. Não sei se eles ainda fazem isso, mas o PokerStars costumava ter jogos intitulados "escola" com estruturas de blinds atrozes que ensinavam exatamente o oposto do que uma "escola" de pôquer deveria ensinar.

Conforme os buy-ins aumentam, as estruturas de blinds se tornam mais propícias para jogar mais seriamente. Nós aqui da Cardschat temos sorte porque as estruturas de blinds dos freerolls do Replay Poker são razoáveis.

I agree, but all in pre-flop is almost an obligation because of the initial chips, very little so that's why there are many all in pre-flop...

 

[machinm19]

I concur that playing freerolls has its downsides but if you’re building a bankroll from nothing and learning to get better at the same time you are definitely not wasting your time imo.

 

[okeedokalee]

They are just a free attempt to generate money from nothing.
To those of us that have the time and patience they are a good pastime.
The frustration of losing real money when you buy-in can cause serious stress to some folk. A bad tournament playing free roll has cost nothing and the game has probably been a challenge and hopefully fun.

 

[Poker Orifice]

'it depends'
( @Kenzie 96 )

 

[Claudiunm]

First thing you may answer is: "of course, they are free", but what about wasting time, your stress?
Yesterday I've lost: AK x A3 / KQ x 98 / TT x 87s / AQ x 38 (all preflop)

Again, you may say "of course, it's a thing called variance"
But I desagree. Of course variance exists and we should deal with it, but no where in the world a player would call an all in (over 20~30bbs) with A3 or 38. That really piss me off!!

Here's my graph that says that I mainly play freerolls, Yeah, it's only "for fun",but thinks really stress me out.
Paying a USD2,00, even if is an insignificant ammount, would chance things?

View attachment 364760

I agree with you my friend. Certainly if you were playing a paid tournament you wouldn't go all-in preflop with these hands. AK, KQ, TT or AQ are hands for 3-betting or 4-betting pre-flop in cash games. But in freerolls everyone thinks they've already won with these hands and goes all in. The problem is that in the freeroll the villain pays. And since it's going all in, you'll lose at some point.
My advice to you: just as you don't play PLO the same way you play NLH, you shouldn't play freeroll the same way you play cash or vice versa.

 

[fundiver199]

Hardheaded but first game 2003 acr was freeroll rolled into 3k range...put on probably 100 sites in hayday lol never deposited truly till like 2018 anywhere was always winnings....

Thats of course cool. But if you were "always winning", then imagine how much more it could have been, if you had not handicapped yourself by this idea of never depositing and therefore having to spend loads of times playing freerolls and micro games instead of games with more significant money at stake. Seems like a bit of a missed opportunity to me rather than something to be proud of or recommend to others.

And even more so in todays climate, where sites are way less generate with freerolls. If someone insists on not depositing today, they are going to be stuck with freerolls and penny games for a very long time, and for what reason? If they eventually manage to turn it into a real bankroll, nobody will care a bit, that they did so without depositing. Not to mention the fact, that if nobody ever deposited, there would be no sites for anyone to play on to begin with.

 

[Iryna Stryzheuskaya]

You can choose which games to play. There are many players who like freerolls and I am one of them.

 

[BetterThanAvgButNotByMuch]

Its not worth it to me but I just enjoy playing them because it reminds me of fun times.

But I really don't enjoy poker enough anymore to take it seriously. I'm not as good as I was years ago either.

I mean i can't read an omaha board online as fast as I used to and I can't even keep track of deadcards at multiple tables if I played a stud variant anymore lol. Not in practice or just getting old, or whatever.

Nor do I have that joy of playing anymore.

I have a good idea whats going to happen now unlike when everything was sorta new.

I know the agro donks that are raising every hand do not have the experience to play every hand and they're going busto whether they get all the chips at the table in the 1st hour or in the 2nd hour in freerolls/low entry buyins whether online or live.

And then they have the nerve to ask, why did I go busto? lol Because you don't understand the basics and you're just playing an agro donk game that you can't win consistently at. LOL.

I know grinding $1/2 or 2/4 live is a little better than you can get from a low paying job without security, consistent pay and . . . benefits and I was a winning player.

I know online players are using a boat load of software aids from HUDS to analyzing software to stuff that gives them unfair advantages that they themselves cannot figure out on their own giving them an edge and thats the regular players then you have the shady folks with the collusion, bots and god knows what scams are going to hit the online world next.

And thats from stuff from the poker boom. . not today, LOL. Now its AI?? yeah. I could never ever take online games seriously.

Just play online stuff for fun and relax. If you get a little enjoyment of playing them then go for it.

 

[Zorba]

A bad tournament playing free roll has cost nothing and the game has probably been a challenge and hopefully fun.

Cost nothing but your sanity.

 

[riff_raff312]

In my personal opinion yes they are! With all the free games that are offered here at CC one can learn and earn lots. like today there is four games i will play just to learn and maybe even earn see you at the tables! Oh have some fun too!

 

[ratbat615]

You want to play with bad players. And remember poker is gambling so nothing is %100 . But trust me you don’t want to call all ins with 38 or A3 that’s a losing strategy long term.