There are no two ways about it in that one of the best ways to get started in online poker is through the infamous freeroll tournament. Freerolls are just what they sound like; they are tournaments that various online poker rooms put on that are absolutely free to join. Yet they offer some pretty great payouts from time to time! Finding a freeroll to play in isn’t too difficult, but you should try to find one that is a good balance of players and money. Some freerolls have tons of players and not a lot of money. Something like that wouldn’t be worth your time if another room was offering something better. Just keep an eye on the various rooms you frequent and spend your time playing the ones with the best payouts. Some freerolls may have some minor requirements you have to fulfill in order to play but usually those requirements are pretty small.

After you have found a freeroll that interests you, there are a few realizations that you should make about freerolls:

 ·       While there are people who make it a goal to build their stake off freerolls and truly capitalize on them, most players in a freeroll will be there because they are broke and a broke poker player usually means a bad player.

·       People will take a lot more chances and give up a lot easier in a freeroll simply because it is free. The only attachment they have in the tournament is to what they could win, not what they have already paid in.

With these things in mind you realize that freerolls could be an excellent place to build a steak or maybe even take home a nice prize. Because they are free, many natural inhibitions that players have in other tournaments are kind of out the window. This means that if you stick to a real game strategy as if it were a paid buy in tournament, you could quickly see the field diminish as care free players realize they really have nothing to lose. Players having nothing to lose can be an issue as well though too. Because of this, sometimes players will take unnecessary risks and they will unfortunately work out. This is one big thing you have to watch for in a freeroll. Some chump who really doesn’t care, takes a chance on an awful hand and gets lucky. Your KK gets cracked. Now, you might be saying “well that happens in regular tournaments too” and your right, it certainly does, but realize that it might happen more often in freeroll tournaments due to their very nature.

In conclusion, when playing a freeroll, try to play the game with the same strategy and mindset you would in a normal paid buy in tournament. That alone will put you a step ahead of the competition. Also remember that things can get crazy in freerolls so you may need to play more of them to get the results you want.