Where And How To Play Free Online Poker
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Playing free online poker is a good way to get used to software and can be fun in itself, but it playing without any money on the line detracts from the spirit of the game for one simple reason, there's no financial incentive for other players to fold.
This essentially eliminates the skill portion of the game, since bluffing techniques simply don't work. Why fold on an all-in instead of calling when you're playing with fake money? Without having to worry about the ramifications of calling bad bets, free poker turns into a random game, with the best cards typically winning every hand instead of the best player.
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This doesn't mean it's not possible to play free poker as you would regular poker of course, there are a few players who legitimately 'practice' at the free tables and play as they would with real chips, despite using play money. Unfortunately, on a free public table you don't have control over who sits with you, so it's not safe to assume other patrons are playing as they would 'for real' just because you may be.
This doesn't mean you can't have a good time of course, and I'd encourage playing free poker online if you're new to online poker or if you're new to the game as a whole. Just bear in mind that the action will usually be a lot different on the real money tables, less people will call, and less people will raise gratuitously when they're playing with real funds.
All online poker rooms to date have some type of free poker games available. These free games don't make the poker rooms any money, but are offered because:
- Free online poker games allow patrons to get comfortable with the software/games before playing for real money.
- Occasionally free money players turn into real money players.
So, while you're under no obligation to ever play for real money if you start playing for free, casinos have an incentive to offer you access to their poker room for free because they realize some players will eventually move over to real money play.
Just about every online poker room offers a free download that you can use to play free games, usually the same software off of which real money games
are played. If you're looking to download poker games, see our room directory for previews and places to download free
poker software.
If you don't have much room left on your computer or want to be able to play from multiple locations easily, no download
poker might be for you. See our directory of no download poker rooms for information.
A freeroll or 'free roll' tournament is a competition set up by an online poker room that allows free-money players a chance
to compete for real money prizes without having to pay a tournament entry fee. The cash prize(s) awarded are furnished
by the poker room, not from entry fees.
This is another promotional tool offered by poker rooms to get players both downloading their software and excited about the real money aspect of the game.
If you'd like to try your hand at a Freeroll tournament, I have listed a number of places that offer them here.
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