How To Leverage Free Poker Tournaments To Their Full Benefit

By Author: Groshan Fabiola
Total Articles: 2678
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It is no secret that many of the now well-established names in online poker didn't afford the luxury to start out with a substantial bankroll. Despite this fact though, they slowly added to their original budget through experience, by taking on progressively more difficult and profitable poker tournaments. With proper money management, good knowledge of the game, careful selection of the online poker rooms you play in, and of course, lots of practice and patience, you too can build a decent bankroll starting from scratch.

If you are dreaming about a successful career in online poker but your current funds don't allow you to play for real money, then you should consider the alternative of free Internet poker tournaments, which can allow you to climb your way up to those much sought after high-stake games through hard work and lots of practice.

Given the increasing rivalry between Internet poker resources, many sites are nowadays running very generous policies in the attempt to encourage player signups. This easily explains the abundance of sizeable bonus deals, irresistible promotions and enticing free poker ...
... tournament options to choose from. What's great about free poker tournaments is that, besides giving you the chance to polish your playing skills without risking any hard-earned money, they present you with the opportunity to win various prizes starting out with nothing.

The two main types of freerolls you should become accustomed to in your poker ventures are ‘member point-based' and the rarer ‘no-strings-attached' tournaments. The first variety of poker tournaments requires earning a specific amount of experience points by winning a number of online poker room games. While the tournaments are indeed free and can offer good value in more advanced stages, obtaining a seat involves playing for real money, an asset which you might not possess in the beginning.

When you have no money to begin with, you should focus on the latter category of poker tournaments, which only requires signing up and opening an account with the website hosting the events. Sticking with ‘no-strings-attached' freerolls may not provide a lot of value, but this approach enables you to get plenty of online poker room action before you can take on tournaments that are more challenging.

An important thing to remember is that freerolls are completely different from regular tournaments with real money buy-ins, so you should adapt your playing style accordingly. Since there is no money involved in freeroll poker rooms, players tend to assume higher risks and play far more aggressively than usual.

With composure, patience, and a little strategic thinking, you can easily use this aspect in your advantage; all it takes is to be more selective with your starting hands, but not to the extent that you normally would in high stakes poker tournaments - in other words, for best results you should favor a somewhat balanced manner of play. Although building a large stack in the later stages of the tournaments may involve taking risks early on, as long as you are slightly more focused and calculated than your opponents, you should have no problem finishing at the top of the leader boards.

For more resources about poker tournaments or about poker room or even about online poker room, please review these links.