From Freeroll to Bankroll

[Rahatis]

Check Sofia Lövgren!

 

[sevasik13]

I have been trying to do this for quite a long time, the very fact that I do not spend money and train for one thing already makes me happy, so it makes sense

 

[barba332]

currently there are not many freerolls,but with study and patience everything is achieved if you do not have the possibility of depositing luck at the people tables.:smile:

 

[niphon56]

I think there are still have many freerolls, but the prize pool is too small.

I suppose those prize pool less than $100 is not worth to play.
And a freeroll excess 3000 players can only play for fun.

 

[lcid86]

Use freerolls to build up a bankroll and then look for tourneys with an overlay. Cash games can be good, but you need to be prepared for major swings at the lower levels. Be patient and chose games where you have an advantage.

 

[KozakAlex]

I made up to $ 2,000 from the money I won on the Freeroll. I even took out $ 1,125. Then I lost the rest. Because it is possible. It's all about having time and playing skills. I played 1 on 1 in sit and go and gradually raised the limit to $ 50.

 

[Matt_Burns88]

Has anyone ever managed to start off with freerolls and work their way up to at least a small bankroll of a few hundred dollars or more?

Would you move to ring games once you have at least $5? Or do you think putting that $5 into more tournaments would be better? I usually prefer tournaments over ring games myself.

If I stay tournament route, should I drop that full $5 into one tournament or would it be better to go with the $0.25 buy-ins? It seems like putting it all into one tournament will be the most risky, but you can win more than that from just one freeroll. So not really a huge loss.

I just pulled up a $4k gtd which has a buy-in of $4 + $0.40 and first place pays $559.The lowest paid position is 180 at $8.

Losses would be inevitable using this method, but 2 perfect tournaments would put you at a decent bankroll. I know that is highly improbable, but I think it is worth trying since it isn't really costing me any money, just my time.

Taking this approach will lead to you going broke very often. It's relatively easy to win a few dollars playing freerolls, but to then put your entire bankroll on the line for another tournament is a very high risk strategy. Cash is the same thing as $5 only represents a buy-in or two.

While binking a $5 tournament will get you to a decent size bankroll immediately, you're talking about a 1 in a 100,000 chance of getting top 3 in consecutive MMT at freeroll/micro levels. So playing $0.25 45/90 player SnG's would definitely be my suggestion with $5.

If you're hoping for a get rich quick scheme, poker is not the answer; it is a grind. Slow, steady, consistency is the key.

Personally, I started from $0.00 at the end of June and I am now up to $80.00 thanks to CardsChat freerolls and playing 45 player SnGs and $0.55 and $1.10 MTTs. I will start playing $2.20 tournaments once I get to around $100 - $120.

 

[winnie1993]

It is possible to turn 0$ into big winnings, cuz there are freerols and for beginning not so much need. Got a nice place in freerool and play some low mtt. Maybe not from first time but anyway you can increase your bankroll to normal. Then it is all about your skills.

 

[mkdrummey]

Every cent I play on poker has come from freerolls. Never put any of my own money in, I just moved it round different sites over the years.

 

[capujoss]

I have made money in freeroll tourneys , but I usually lose all the money because I end up taking more risks, because it is free money.

 

[Jadeyt92]

Well with helo of cardschat. I used the monthly freeroll ticket and came 3rd think i, won 182 dollars. Withdrew 90. Im at around 138 dollars still. 1.10 buy ins. Fairly easy to make prize places

 

[luki_jakdo]

Yeah that's the type of stuff I am talking about. So you stayed below $1 on your tournament buy-ins. It will definitely take patience. No rushing or tilting when things don't go well.

From 17 cent to $57.11 is a really good result. Do you know how long it took you to build up that much? Do you multi-table or stick to just one tournament at a time?

Something that I worry about is that when I get that much or more is blowing my entire bankroll when I am in a losing streak.

wow thats amazing how did you do thath :O

 

[luki_jakdo]

Every cent I play on poker has come from freerolls. Never put any of my own money in, I just moved it round different sites over the years.

Wow, that sounds interesting.... how did you do that? Are you in the freeroll Club?

 

[DavPerz]

It never hurts to juice the wheel a little bit either. Depositing minimal amounts might not be the best thing for bonuses and the like, but there's a lot to be said and learned from playing the lowest stakes rather than constant freerolls.

 

[ADRI7HO]

I’ve heard of people who have already managed to build a bankroll from a freerolls.

 

[DevaCat]

I've managed to do this at three sites (PKR, Full Tilt, Stars) and ran the 888 $8 sign-up bonus up- I've never actually deposited on any site, but have managed to play tens of thousands of hands at NL10. In each case my strategy was the same- use freerolls to get to something like $8, then shortstack NL2 full ring, leaving the table when I doubled up, then moving to full stack NL2 at about $40. It was a lot easier when I was doing this (PKR in something like 2007, Full Tilt in about 2010, 888 after Black Friday) as there were more freerolls which didn't require you to have deposited. I'd echo what some players have said above- you need to:

(1) be super-conservative about bankroll management until you get up to about $50, which is an adequate roll to just grind NL2. I can't emphasise enough how dull it is to be kicked exclusively down to mass-field freerolls after playing cash for a bit (I bounced in and out of playing cash a couple of times at FTP before getting comfortable)- you can no longer choose exactly when to play, and you lose perks like FPPs. Avoid this by staying as low as you can. Even now, I run BRM of at least 50 BIs for cash, to minimise my risk of ruin.

(2) choose spots carefully and look for overlays and added money in tournies. For example, my roll was boosted by a $20 score in a $10k freeroll on Stars in mid-2013, followed by a $113 2nd place the next month in a $1.1 tourney with $500 added to the price pool. Those two tournaments, and a few others around the time, were what gave me a comfortable roll on Stars to go with NL5 and some $3 buy-in tournaments.

(3) Promotions can help a lot (NB- they're not as generous as they were in the day). The FTP Academy, which ran from 2009 until Black Friday, paid out a bunch of points which I used early on for buy-ins to occasional MTTs to preserve my bankroll. When there are special offers on sites which don't require you to bust your BRM, make use of them.

(4) Patience is key. If you're a good NL2 player, you might make 6bb/ 100- that's around 12c per hour single tabling (and you won't have the roll to multitable initially). It will be a grind to get your roll up.

(5) Don't multitable anything other than freerolls at the start. If you go on tilt, you're on tilt at all tables, and can burn cash quickly.

(6) Don't play Zoom until your roll is solid. I can't emphasise this enough. Winrates are lower, hands come quicker, tilt is more ruinous, reads on villains are harder to acquire.

One final thing- building a bankroll from nothing remains doable imo, but will be hard- much harder than ten years ago, when freerolls with hefty prize pools were frequent, and reward schemes mainly helped winning players. Remember- most poker players lose money over the medium and long term. If you're merely an average player, it won't happen, as the average player loses something like 10bb/100 at NL2- you will have to work on your game and be very disciplined. Good luck.

 

[maxmaster10]

i had my bankroll with freerolls at first time, was hard but if u study day per day you can take a good money

 

[fefibecerra]

I read the whole thread and there's some really good advice here. I currently have $22 on ACR from freerolls, but I only play every now and then. So I'd say patience and consistency are key to build a decent bankroll.

 

[Pokerpoet2]

Has anyone ever managed to start off with freerolls and work their way up to at least a small bankroll of a few hundred dollars or more?

Would you move to ring games once you have at least $5? Or do you think putting that $5 into more tournaments would be better? I usually prefer tournaments over ring games myself.

If I stay tournament route, should I drop that full $5 into one tournament or would it be better to go with the $0.25 buy-ins? It seems like putting it all into one tournament will be the most risky, but you can win more than that from just one freeroll. So not really a huge loss.

I just pulled up a $4k gtd which has a buy-in of $4 + $0.40 and first place pays $559.The lowest paid position is 180 at $8.

Losses would be inevitable using this method, but 2 perfect tournaments would put you at a decent bankroll. I know that is highly improbable, but I think it is worth trying since it isn't really costing me any money, just my time.

I started from free-rolls on several sites over the years and managed to build up small bankrolls on them all my smallest is over $150.00
Pokerstars being my favorite site I have over $300.00 now and play mostly $1.00 single table SnGs. The regular free-rolls on Cardschat and the Pokerstars School Free-rolls.
Once when I mentioned to a friend I had over $150 on P.Stars he told me I should buy into 3 X $50 games and go for the big win. I just asked him how much he had on his account and he said he had deposited £100.00 on P.Stars and lost the lot over night and never deposited again I laughed and said I will stick to my $1.00 SnGs thank you.
Before the lock downs started I used to play weekly live games at my local pub and didn't do much on-line but since that all stopped I came back to on-line games and my account stood at $210 last March, over this last 9 months I have played most days on-line and now have $330.00 I do not consider myself to be a good player, mediocre at best but I enjoy the games and I enjoy winning the Chest's with tickets etc. I play for the fun of the game and if I lose a dollar I just say to myself "Oh well! GG on to the next game"

When the fun Stops, STOP!

 

[hubcio96]

I used to play $10- $20 tournaments, with rebuys because I was chasing the "big score". I got decent results, but when I analyze my results for that year (2019) I was over $1k down. So... I educate myself on the BRM, and now I have more fun at the tables (online), I play better, because my results are no longer how much actual money I won, but how many BB, or buy-ins I won (No more stressing about loosing big money a the tables). That's how I count my success. When I have a good month, I'll take half, or 1/33 of the profits for that month and I reward myself with a bigger tournament, or higher cash games. But I always go back to my comfortable level. My rule is, if I have 6 consecutive months of decent results, I'll move up in the stakes by one step. I also started spending time learning the game, not just playing. The way I analyze from and athlete perspective- reading, studying, and analyzing my hands is like training in the gym, a specific muscle group or specific skill. Playing micro stakes is like practice the actual sport, or have "friendly" meets and matches . The bigger tournament is the main event, Olympics, or what not - this is when I apply everything I worked on in a one big test. Then repeat.
Some new thinking for all you - PRACTICE DOES NOT MAKES PERFECT - PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT. PRACTICING PREFECT, MAKES PERFECT PERMANENT.

 

[korbal29]

I win quite a lot on freerolls but end up always broke,because I wanna make it big .
I really know whats my weakness: Impatience.
I dont have the discipline to grind. I guess one day I will learn

 

[bonart]

It is a hard game and really takes time and patience. Knowing when are your bad days and refrain from carrying on playing is the key.
Patience to wait for the good days.
By reading up to improve your skill to manage your game is crucial.
I like the Cardchat 'Become a winning player in 30 days course' which is free.
Good luck.

 

[baykoshkar]

I want to build my bankroll on freerolls

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Я хочу увеличить свой банкролл на фрироллах

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[AMAQ12]

For me it just depends how much bankroll you build off the first freeroll. If it is under $10 im going straight to a cash table to try and double up and then will think about entering another tourney. I have yet to be successful in building $100 bankroll from scratch.

 

[johnnylawford]

Has anyone ever managed to start off with freerolls and work their way up to at least a small bankroll of a few hundred dollars or more?

Would you move to ring games once you have at least $5? Or do you think putting that $5 into more tournaments would be better? I usually prefer tournaments over ring games myself.

If I stay tournament route, should I drop that full $5 into one tournament or would it be better to go with the $0.25 buy-ins? It seems like putting it all into one tournament will be the most risky, but you can win more than that from just one freeroll. So not really a huge loss.

I just pulled up a $4k gtd which has a buy-in of $4 + $0.40 and first place pays $559.The lowest paid position is 180 at $8.

Losses would be inevitable using this method, but 2 perfect tournaments would put you at a decent bankroll. I know that is highly improbable, but I think it is worth trying since it isn't really costing me any money, just my time.

you might want to check out the "Poker Goals, Challenges and Wins" forum, there are a lot of threads from people doing $0 bankroll challenges. Some of them have done pretty well!