Free Poker

[takeittothehouse]

What is it you guys are looking for from playing free poker? Are you looking to better your game, or are you just going out for a good time? I have noticed that some venues have better play than others, but I have not noticed a big difference in play for different tours.

I played at a place last night where one player basically was killing the game for everyone as his motto was “well it’s free poker”. :donk: He would call raises with crap cards, raise with crap cards, and unfortunately he got lucky all night. He announced he didn’t care about it because that’s how free poker is played. When it got to heads up he said he was all in blind every hand. The dealer told him that if he was going to play like that he would uphold the integrity of the game and rack his chips. He said he could play however he wanted to. This player put a big damper on the game of poker we all love.

So I ask what you guys are looking for? Is that how you play? Is that OK?

Personally, I am looking to better my game. I take it fairly seriously and try to play my A game. I try to read other players, and play them as well as my cards. I like to outplay an opponent after the flop. Yes, you run into more donkey’s playing free poker, but I think playing against them can help your game in money tournaments as there are donkeys with money. I like the tours that start with 25/50 blinds since that’s what I see when I play up the hill and in Vegas. I have too much respect for the game to not care and go in blind (unless I’m very short and in the blind and really don’t have a choice).

What do you guys like???

[FAT BASTURD]

First off was that players name Sean Allen? and second off I totally agree with you on the integrity of the game and the blind structure

[Mondogarage]

I play free poker to (hopefully) enjoy myself, bring my spouse into the game, and even win a bit of prizes. I do not play to better my game any further because, frankly, my last few months of bar poker have been witness to far too much horrible poker to even make it worth my while anymore.

Without going into too much detail, ten days ago, in the 1st blind level, after having quadrupled up, I lose 1/3 of my stack to a terrible play by another player who catches runner/runner. Okay, it happens, and besides, you want them getting their money in against you way behind. But the next hand, she goes all in with crap (she had the rest of the table besides me dominated), knocks out a short stack who had KK, and then turned in her monster stack of chips, because she "didn't want to play anymore".

Later that tourney, down to 15 players, a player at my table who has about 45k in chips, at least 2x anyone else left in the tourney (and about 80% of the chips at my table), decides he's tired and turns in his chips, after knocking out two players the hand before.

That is not only disrespectful of all the other players at the table, that is disrespectful of the game of poker.

Bad enough that 1/2 the table doesn't grasp when your representing a hand by your bet. Or calling on a gutshot on the turn with only 2.4:1 on their money. Free poker has little to no strategic or training value for those who can actually play...but it can be convenient if you can't get to the casino.

Yeah, I'm venting, but I'm about done with bar poker, because that kinda stuff is not okay.

I look at it like this. I'm not losing out -- I can play all the $5 or $10 MTTs I want, and still deal with donk play, but at least in the comfort of my own home without bar tabs, and with the advantage of people not getting to disrespect the game, or make donk plays just because it's "free poker". Where I used to play bar poker three times a week (sometimes four), I now average less than once a week.

The prizes available to win aren't anywhere near substantial enough to balance out the level of frustration.

[ctswpt76]

Was this at Zodiac in Westdumpster? Sounds exactly like a guy there. He's a big guy (aka fat) and has a weird over (under?) bite that makes his lower jaw come way out compared to his upper mouth....

Anyway, he plays like that all the time, usually wins a lot at the early stages and then donks it all off to people with monster hands.

Definitely annoying, but I take it with a grain of salt since it is bar poker.......

And speaking of donkey's with money, sounds like the later stages of the WSOP ME were also pretty bad, I guess AK and AQ were considered the nuts by a lot of players, as they kept busting out........oh and TPTK was another "can't be beat, so I might as well shove all in" type hand............lol

cts

[idh78]

Well honestly some of the play I see in free poker isn't really all that much different then you will find up the hill, online, or in Vegas....well at least not at the stakes I play anyway.....

most people play so bad in the small buy-in tournies(the majority unknowingly) that you can gain some good experience navagating minefields in these free bar games....

go play a $1500 NL event at the WSOP and you will find people doing the same dumb stuff......because luck plays such a big part of poker in the short term...people can win playing like this with no idea that over the long run they will lose far more often than win.

God Bless Chris Moneymaker.

[Mondogarage]

Well honestly some of the play I see in free poker isn't really all that much different then you will find up the hill, online, or in Vegas....well at least not at the stakes I play anyway.....

most people play so bad in the small buy-in tournies(the majority unknowingly) that you can gain some good experience navagating minefields in these free bar games....

God Bless Chris Moneymaker.

I understand what you're saying, and I don't disagree with it at all, but....I guess my point is, if I'm going to be taken out by a couple of uberfish calling pf re-raises with K5o, because they wer soooooted, I'd rather just do that at home now where a) I'm not paying food/bev/dealer tips, and b) I can actually win some real monies if I do dodge the landmines.

I agree, the play is essentially equally bad in bar poker as it is in your average $5-10 PS or FTP buy-ins (which is pretty much what I play). But I can survive two hours of that in bar poker and see 40-50 hands, or I can survive two hours of that online and see 150 hands, or much more since I tend to multi-table.

So, to me, the issue is, what can bar poker offer me? It's not going to improve my game, since the play there is no better (and for the most part, no worse) than what I get online. What I spend on beer and burgers, I can spend on buy-ins. The prizes in bar poker are pretty laughable, in the grand scheme of things. (This is not a complaint about prizes, I understand it's *free* poker.) No risk of DUI. No drunk obnoxious bar patrons. Etc.

Maybe this is a plea for someone to illustrate why I (or anyone else) should play bar poker. How can it be re-framed so that folks who don't play it will look at it and decide it's worth their time. I'm sure there's got to be a reason, otherwise, there would be no bar poker. I'm just not seeing it. For now, the only reason I have to go is on days I go to the dry cleaners on the way home from work, since it's right next door, and I'm already there.

Maybe this can turn into a discussion of why other people *do* go play bar poker.

[pseudoswede]

I use free poker to try out strategies and train myself on other things before using it in cash games or cash donkaments (the buy-in levels I play at, yes they are donkaments).

For example...

* Aggressive position play
* Calculating the pot size (along with pot odds) -- I seem to get distracted easily, and I need to work on concentrating on this
* Reading players and their cards--and knowing when I'm beat

Yes, I do take free poker seriously. I don't have a bankroll to afford heading up to BH very often, so I use free bar poker as my training grounds.

And, yes, people who say asinine things like, "If I was playing for money, I'd take it more seriously," irk me to no end. It's pretty funny. I've ran into many people I consider donks on the bar poker scene up in Blackhawk. I've yet to say any of them make it close to the final table.

[adaugust]

I have played bar poker for almost 3 years. There are good games and there are terrible games. Last week I played in this game that started horrible since this guy didnt give a crap and was rasing every hand. He got large stacked early, but didnt even come close to the final table. My strategy with people like this is to try and survive them. I had such a read on this guy it wasnt even funny! I treat bar poker like I treat a $60 buy in. I want to better my game as much as possible. The play down here in Castle Rock is some of the best I have seen. You will routinely see a Castle Rock player win or come close to winning at major DPT events. Another reason I treat it serious is it is how I learned how to play the game. I have not only bettered my game from reading books, but by playing in these free events. I have not had to invest much money in playing in tournaments with a buy in since the games down here have helped me better my game and have me ready to play on the hill.

[idh78]

bar poker can be fun, which is why a lot of people play, it is a lot more social than sitting in front of a monitor and it is a lot closer than blackhawk and also a lot cheaper even if you have a couple drinks....basically it is a decent way to get your live poker fix if you don't have the time/money for frequent trips up the hill.

and playing against these maniacs *is* good for your game despite what you might think....you have to learn to play against all types of players including the sooooted ATC can win....

the luck factor is huge in poker, you are kidding yourself if you think it's not....just look at the donkey that won the main event this year...talk about no fold em hold em...

[Bruno]

the luck factor is huge in poker, you are kidding yourself if you think it's not....just look at the donkey that won the main event this year...talk about no fold em hold em...

Well, I watched the ME on a recording of the Pay per view, and read PokerNews.com as it was happening. And I think people are hammering on Yang and are a bit off base. After he caught Hilm bluffing, he had such a large stack that he could play ATC, and he could call down any hand he suspected of bluffing. During the tournament, two players who got knocked out said the same thing: that Yang was their favorite to win, and that he was reading people and playing the best poker of the remaining people. Not bad endoresments. Yang's call on Hilm was exceptional because he knew that Hilm was a big bluffer from previous day, that Hilm was capable of pulling the trigger on a bluff like that, and that Hilm would not play a set like that. To Yang's credit, he pulled the trigger when he knew he had read the situation correctly. Think how many times that you've said "I know you don't have anything, but I fold". Now, think about being in that situation on the biggest poker stage in the world. And can you muster up the courage to call the all-in for your tourney life, and probably the bracelet. Yang did......After that it was big stack poker.....

[pseudoswede]

I'll also add...

If you really want a decent "free" poker experience, then check out some of the poker software out these days.

DD Poker 2, for example, has free internet play with other DD players. You can almost always find a game, and the play is much better than what you'll find on any of the .net poker sites. If you play like a :donk: like the OP describes, then you will eventually be banned from most of the games on there (I also believe that the forum has a list of blacklisted players to avoid allowing to join your game). The inital cost is $30, and it's a decent way to play decent, free poker to try to improve your game. Granted, it's not as good as playing live, but it's certainly better than most (if not all) bar poker games in town.