Potential Pitfalls of Play Money Poker.
Most online poker players start out by practicing at play-money tables - to get to know the game before moving on to real-money poker games online. Then there are those who are perfectly satisfied with playing for fun, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, if you plan use play-money poker as a springboard for a 'real' poker career, you need to keep some things about free holdem poker in mind.
Same Game, Same Rules, Big Difference
Even if you nearly always win when playing poker online at play-money tables, you can't necessarily count on being a winner at even the tiniest levels of real-money poker. The fact is that people play very differently when nothing is at stake. You will often see several players going all-in in multi-way pots at play-money tables. This just doesn't happen in real poker games.
Although there are plenty of players who exhibit poor play in real-money games as well, very few players will risk real money in a multi-way pot with extremely mediocre holdings, like the ones that appear frequently at the play-money tables. When real money is at stake, regardless of the amount, you can be certain that the play will tighten up considerably. When several players are in the pot, at least one of them will have a legitimate hand.
It all boils down to motivation - although some recreational play-money poker players try to take the game seriously, there will always be those who just don't care. This waters down the competition quite heavily.
Positive Aspects of Play-Money Poker
Free poker still has its uses for beginners getting to know the game, if you keep in mind that the competition is much easier to beat on average. You will pick up the rules and how the betting works more quickly (and much less expensively) than if you only 'read the manual' and jump straight into real-money poker. On the other hand, there are low-cost or even free alternatives to play-money poker that may provide better training opportunities.
Alternatives to Play-Money Poker
If you're looking for a great way to practice your poker skills without risking a single dollar, freerolls are the best alternative. Freerolls are poker tournament that are completely free to enter, but still have a prize pool. The prize pools are paid by the hosting poker room as a means to attract new players and provide added value to existing players. Even though the prize pools are usually modest, there's still real money at stake, which is enough to motivate most players.
You might think that using the various free poker bonuses that are available would be a good way to learn how to play poker while using real money. But that might be a waste of good money that you would be better able to exploit when you are more familiar with the game. Once you have spent some time larning the ropes on the freeroll games, then you should consider taking advantage of the free poker bonuses like the free Party Poker Bonus and the free Fulltilt bankroll.
