Champion of Poker

Poker is played with chips and those chips are money. So without money you cannot take part right? Wrong! Playing with no money has an amazing amount of benefits to any poker player. Fortunately the competition between the poker rooms in the market for new players are so high that freeroll tournaments are becoming bigger and better so having no money is not a reason not to play. Poker rooms benefit by giving people a reason to register, and a bit of money with which to play. We benefit from being able to start a bankroll from scratch.

Many poker players are pressured into stopping playing because they have lost some money. We poker enthusiasts know all too well the negative stigma that goes with gambling. When I mention to family that I write about poker regularly, even that gets a negative reaction. They assume that underneath my writing lies an addict who loses money playing poker every day. Well meaning family members do not consider that maybe, just maybe we might be regular winning players, they assume the worst. But they do it out of love, so we cannot be too harsh on them.

But if you show your worried spouse that you can win money playing for free can that be so bad? They may still worry you are secretly demolishing the debit card but time will prove you are playing poker responsibly and this is something that I have written thousands of words about, believing passionately that we need to remove poker from the image of being a route to ruin when in fact it is a game where the normal player has a genuine opportunity, with a bit of skill, to turning no money into potentially a lot of it. The players attitude to playing and their work ethic, like many other things, are the determining factor to whether or not they succeed.

Freeroll poker tournaments allow you to learn poker in a low risk environment. Whilst you should always play poker thinking of the play in terms of chips rather than money in the beginning it will be only normal for you to think in terms of money that you may be able to win. Try to suppress this urge to think of the money and focus on the poker. If you get that right, then money usually follows. You need not worry about losing; however, as the tournament was free to enter.

The challenge of playing freeroll poker tournaments is that you must slowly but surely increase your bankroll; you must learn to be patient! Once the donkeys have been eliminated and the tiresome people who register and then vanish are eliminated you will see a big improvement in the standard of poker play. This will allow you to play more standard poker and use your skills to win. Look out for freeroll tournaments that have big prizes. Most sites are now offering big monthly Freerolls sometimes having prize pools over $1000. This can be a great bankroll booster if you do take one down.

When you win a freeroll you will be amazed at how careful you are with these few yet precious dollars. You will appreciate how hard you had to work for them and this is the basis for good bankroll management. Bankroll management and financial planning are two things that poker can teach you that has a long term benefit to all aspects of life. There is no reason why you cannot play ten to twenty freeroll tournaments and profit to the tune of $20 and use that as a starting bankroll to bigger and better things. Having no money should be seen as an opportunity in poker rather than an obstacle. You can still take part and enjoy the fun of online poker.

By Malcolm Clarke