A word to the wise – do not expect to learn how to play poker at the free money tables. By this I mean don’t expect to learn how poker strategy works and don’t use your free money experience in the big wide world of cash games. You’ll get eaten alive!
Free money is given to you as part of your poker account and is intended to help you get used to the site and try out the games. These tables are littered with first timers, fun players and people who have no real care whether they win or lose. They’re playing for fun. As a result they will call anything and go all-in with absolutely nothing. It’s a game of chance on these tables and luck is the overriding factor. The play money tables are a good way of letting you get used to the site so use them for this purpose only and hone your poker skills on the real money tables and in tournaments.
Play money tables will give you a feel for the speed of the games, where all the buttons are, how to bet, etc. They are also good for learning a new game. You may be moving from another poker room and everything looks different. The buttons are in unfamiliar places and you need some time to adjust. Playing for free is ideal for this but once you are comfortable with the site, unless you only want to play for free, you need to move over to the low limit cash tables.
Play some Sit ‘n’ Go’s with a low buy-in amount and build up to some MTT’s and then small stake cash games. This is a good natural progression for a new player. Anytime you are moving from one type of game to another, go back to the free money tables and try it out there first to get used to the rules and gameplay. Once you are ready you can move back into real money and be in a good position to start playing your new game, hopefully with some success.
Free money tables are there to use and can be a good tool for the new player but use them wisely and don’t use them to hone your strategy.