[aliensyndm]

Oh when it's sweet it's sweet but it can be a cruel, cruel game. You can do everything right - and still lose. That can be hard to swallow. You gotta think long term though.

Btw about free rolls - if yer totally skinty malinky lang leegs then aye ok but it's best to play for some amount of cash......I mean even if the buy in is $1 (53p or whatever)
Free rolls are good to get used to how the controls work....raising/folding etc.
Just getting used to it basically, but as far as improving your game goes I wouldn't pay too much attention to them.
I mean it's a no risk thing, you can't lose money yes that's true.
But because of this, often people do not play as they would if it were for "real". Hence alot of plays made etc are not realistic.
Just go on yahoo poker for fun and you will see what I mean - raise every hand no matter what.

Consider this strategy for freeroll - All in, every single hand, no matter what your cards are.

Now that strategy has a positive expectation. As there is no entry fees it can only win money. Eventually you'll get a prize doing it.

Some people do something not too far off of this for this exact reason.
What can you learn playing against that ?
Also the amount of time and effort you put into a free roll - it's usually not worth the rewards. I mean playing for 3 hours to get a half decent finish and only get $2. Better off flipping burgers.

If you go on the sites you'll find something to suit your bankroll, no matter how small. If you think you have no spare cash.....well say only drink 16 pints this weekend instead of 18. The price of 2 pints will get you many poker games. eg - you can get tournaments where the entry fees are as little as 50p and cash games where the max buy in is like £2.
Far better to do without a couple of pints or something and have a go at these than constant free rolls. Yes you can lose money but.......you can learn some important lessons in money managment. It's far better to be playing for real money, no matter how small, as you'll learn more about the game. Going all in with 2-7 off when it means fuck all if you lose is a little different than when you got your own cash behind it.

It's important to work out things like pot odds. If I call 10p for a diamond - what are my chances of hitting it ? Is there enough money in the pot to justify calling it ? Things you may not think about as much when it's meaningless free chips. Also tournament and cash play are alot different. So it's good to get experience on both. As long as you are getting pot odds / an advantage in a cash game you make the play...tournament...different story.

To illustrate this. You are heads up against a aguy. He goes all in. How althought it could never happen imagine I know what his cards are.
They are J-10 offsuit.

Now I hold A-k off suit. If it's a cash game, I call straight away knowing I have an edge - not a huge edge - but an edge nevertheless. Mathematically it's a sound call.

But take the same scenario at the start of a tournament. He raises my big blind all in. We're the only 2 people left. He has J10 and I have AK.
Do I call now ? No. Why not ? Well althought I have an edge...it's not huge and he could quite easily outdraw me and knock me out the tournament.
I can wait for an oppurtunity to put my chips in where I think I've got a much larger edge. No need to do it there.
At the very start of a tournament for a tiny blind which is nothing compared to my stack it's just not worth calling. Of course if my stack was say only double the big blind then yes, I would call. As you may not get another chance to pick up a hand with such a small stack in relation to the big blind and you believe you are ahead.

You see how the same situation can require a different play depending on whether it's cash or tournament or what stage of the tournament it is?


Anyway here's a quick tale which just happened to me......surley this must have been a drunk....


I have AK diamonds and call for $1. A few others call. The big blind raises to $6. I have better position and call. One other person calls.

The flop comes 9 A 4 I think it was. Two hearts on board.

Now the inital raiser has about $35 in front of him, he pauses for a moment.....then goes all in. I call this and the other person folds.
He flips over ....... J 7 off. Turn and river are no help and I collect about $40 from him and $8 or so from other calls.

What was this person thinking ? I have no idea. Was he trying to bluff ? Perhaps. Was he drunk ? I would hope so as it was utter awful play.