I'm done playing Play Money.

[William]

Playing PKR (yeah, I know) with 500/1,000 blinds.

I get and know I need to raise it at least 12x BB to thin the field down.

I bet 16,000 preflop and get 4 callers.

Pot: 80,000

Flop comes

I bet half the pot: 40,000

3 players fold, 1 calls

Pot: 160,000

Turn comes

I move All-in for my remaining 50,000 something.

Villain calls and shows

River comes .

Villain wins with an Ace high straight.

[Nerre]

Play money is an excellent way to learn how to NOT get tilted:)

I bet villain didn't even see the straight draw(?), all he saw was his flopped pair.

In play money, flopping top pair is mostly not enough to win showdown, and you didn't even have the top pair.

In play money you usually can't scare people out of the pot with big bets (ok, players who have only learned "real" poker will fold, but there are always those few callers) so you should only play hands that you are sure will stand all the way to showdown.

A lot of people call play money "sick", I'd say it's just very different:)

[holdemholmes]

He had bottom pair....how could he fold? 
Seriously though, it is good practice like Nerre said to deal with some ridiculous beats and work on de-tilting.

[William]

It's just that that was the 4th consecutive hand that I got a bad beat with some player calling bets with a ridiculous hand.

When you've accumulated enough chips to be able to play 500/1,000 blinds, one would think they'd actually know how to play.

Guess not...

[NotFadeAway]

most people playing for free are merely practicing masturbation with cards.

[Nerre]

When you've accumulated enough chips to be able to play 500/1,000 blinds, one would think they'd actually know how to play.

No, that's variance!

It is possible to win a lot in poker on pure luck. There have been players who have been playing "professionally" for years, winning on pure luck. But sooner or later their luck ends.

Those players who win a lot on play like that are the ones who always bet big. Because most players who "know" poker will fold to their bets or get tilted!

That's why I think playing play money is in some ways good education. You have to learn, and accept, that sometimes bad play wins.

[William]

That's why I think playing play money is in some ways good education. You have to learn, and accept, that sometimes bad play wins.

I lesson I'd prefer I didn't need to learn .

[Magoddi]

I'm done playing Play Money.

I've lost track of how many times I've told myself this.

[Martini]

That's why I think playing play money is in some ways good education. You have to learn, and accept, that sometimes bad play wins.

I lesson I'd prefer I didn't need to learn .

That lesson is one of the most profitable ones to learn though. It's funny how different players can have different reactions to villain's line. One might say "I'm never playing that game again" while another might be saying "Please, get me some chips so I can play against this guy."

[Nerre]

How often don't we read things like "What's the probability of that? I was way ahead and he pulled his runner-runner straight! This is rigged!"

But even if you have a 99% chance of winning the hand you WILL sooner or later encounter that 1% left. Note the "sooner or later". It might happen the first time. It might happen the first ten times. But in the long run you will win 99% of the times. In the LONG run. But the short run might be different.

That's what you have to learn.

Villain played "incorrect", and even if he win the hand you benefit from his incorrect play.

[William]

How often don't we read things like "What's the probability of that? I was way ahead and he pulled his runner-runner straight! This is rigged!"

But even if you have a 99% chance of winning the hand you WILL sooner or later encounter that 1% left. Note the "sooner or later". It might happen the first time. It might happen the first ten times. But in the long run you will win 99% of the times. In the LONG run. But the short run might be different.

That's what you have to learn.

Villain played "incorrect", and even if he win the hand you benefit from his incorrect play.

Thank you, that made me feel a lot better.































... not.

[Magoddi]

How often don't we read things like "What's the probability of that? I was way ahead and he pulled his runner-runner straight! This is rigged!"

But even if you have a 99% chance of winning the hand you WILL sooner or later encounter that 1% left. Note the "sooner or later". It might happen the first time. It might happen the first ten times. But in the long run you will win 99% of the times. In the LONG run. But the short run might be different.

That's what you have to learn.

Villain played "incorrect", and even if he win the hand you benefit from his incorrect play.

Thank you, that made me feel a lot better.































... not.

lol

[Detroitdad]

The only thing I have used my play money account for was to play through my "tilt". When i would be on the verge of exploding, I would sign into a play money game, and play like the jackasses in real money that had just sent me on tilt............

It actually works.

B

[josiehotpants]

Play money is a great way to go through ABC poker. It helps with learning the basic way to play. Not a good place to try moves with and things like that as people just call call and call with trash  But its great way to learn how to trap people and to learn how to fold!! Also great way of getting put on tilt "WHAT YOU CALLED WITH THAT AND HIT YOUR TWO OUTER.....AGAIN!!!" and learning to deal with it  Can be fun just going on and playing like a donk for the fun of it and trying to slap some bad beats on others and making the phil hellmuths of the play money tables mad!! 

[Nerre]

Yeas, right, it's good to try to play like those donks and find out that it really isn't a winning play in the long run.

Also worth noting is that when you get to higher play money stakes the donks tend go disappear, because their play can't make their "bankroll" big enough for those stakes.

If a site for example give new players 5k play money, the games with a minimum buy-in of 10k are usually quite good.

(On play money sites where players get new money each day things are a bit different, because donks can grow their stacks by just logging in once a day for a couple of weeks.)

[NotFadeAway]

Also worth noting is that when you get to higher play money stakes the donks tend go disappear, because their play can't make their "bankroll" big enough for those stakes.

If a site for example give new players 5k play money, the games with a minimum buy-in of 10k are usually quite good.

I totally disagree with this.  Play money has bad play, no matter the 'stakes.'

[Martini]

Also worth noting is that when you get to higher play money stakes the donks tend go disappear, because their play can't make their "bankroll" big enough for those stakes.

If a site for example give new players 5k play money, the games with a minimum buy-in of 10k are usually quite good.

I totally disagree with this.  Play money has bad play, no matter the 'stakes.'
[/quote

Well, ALL poker (play money or real money) has bad play at all levels of stakes; however, the quality of play increases as the stakes go up whether playing for real or play money.

[Nerre]

The point is that with play money only a good player can grow their bankroll to get into those stakes.

If you start with 5k you can maybe get to 50k or 100k on bad play and pure luck, but it's very unlikely that pure luck can get you to 500k. Maybe with a lot of chip dumping, but not pure luck.

[Magoddi]

In play money I think that players tend to over play their bank roll too which can lead to a quick evaporation of funds.  Without the risk of a "real" loss the temptation to enter huge buy in tournaments is tough.  Unless your truly trying to work your way up  into real money games by playing play money...who's really worried about bankroll management anyway. 

[pauld22]

The point is that with play money only a good player can grow their bankroll to get into those stakes.

If you start with 5k you can maybe get to 50k or 100k on bad play and pure luck, but it's very unlikely that pure luck can get you to 500k. Maybe with a lot of chip dumping, but not pure luck.

Not necessarily.  I know there are sites out there where people can buy play chips to play at the higher play money tables.  And I'm pretty sure I've heard about the "40K or fold tables" where they just shove their stack in and see who wins.  Tons of chips available, zero skill involved, massive play money rolls built.

[Nerre]

Not necessarily.  I know there are sites out there where people can buy play chips to play at the higher play money tables.  And I'm pretty sure I've heard about the "40K or fold tables" where they just shove their stack in and see who wins.  Tons of chips available, zero skill involved, massive play money rolls built.

Yes, on sites where you can get more chips easily it's probably like that.

On the site I've played most you get (I think) 1k as a new player. You can "reset" your bankroll to 1k any time you want (even if it's bigger! so you have to watch where you click), but the only way to make it bigger than 1k is to win.

So the tourney with 2k buy-in is of course a lot better play than the one with 200 buy-in, although I would have like one with maybe 5k or 10k buy-in (my bankroll is like 150k, I haven't played in a long time though).

But of course the play is worse than high stakes real money tables. But this is not because of the play money but because of the low competition.