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Is a Free Online Poker Game Good for You?
Online poker is one of the hottest games on the planet right now. Thousands of people sign up daily to play the game. If you are an experienced poker enthusiast and are aching to play a good game of poker, you would certainly prefer to log on to your favorite gaming site than travel several lonely miles to the nearest land based casino. Because of the popularity of online poker, you may sometimes find the poker room full. No problem, because you can play in a free online poker game with play money while waiting for a vacant seat in one of the real money poker tables. If you are a beginner who would like to learn the basic rules of poker or an experienced player who would like to learn the ropes of poker software, a free online poker game with play money wagers is also for you.
But entertainment and learning basic poker rules are just about as far as you can get with a free online poker game with play money. Whether you are a novice or a professional player, spending countless hours playing a free online poker game with play money is a waste of time because it will certainly not sharpen any of your poker skills. On the contrary, you are more likely to develop bad playing habits if you regularly play a free online poker game with play money. Rather than sharpening your playing abilities, play money poker may actually cause your skills to deteriorate without your knowing it. And worse, if you consistently win play money poker, you may develop overconfidence in yourself and dare to wager against more experienced and skillful players in the very competitive arena of real money online poker.
Another type of free online poker game is the freerolls tournament, which does not require the payment of an entry fee, but provides the opportunity to win some prizes like playing credits, cash and poker accessories. Unlike play money games, poker freerolls can coax out your skills because of the prize involved. Often times, however, poker freerolls are not really free because these would require you to first earn a certain number of points by playing and paying in real money poker games. This means that you will have to play and pay longer than usual just to earn playing points that will gain you an entry into a free online poker game that yields a prize pool that may not be commensurate with the time and money that you have spent to earn the required number of points.
Seen in this perspective, if you are an experienced player you should consider a free online poker game as nothing more than an entertainment that should only take away a few minutes of your time. But if you are a beginner on the other hand, you should rely on a free online poker game as just a venue for learning basic poker rules, and should play low stakes real money poker to practice your hand and hone your poker playing skills.