FreeRoll Poker
Most often, a freeroll refers to a touranment with no entry free. These sorts of tournaments are generally promotions run by poker rooms to attract customers. They are arguably the most popular form of poker tournament, especially among beginner poker players. The obvious benefit of a Freeroll poker tournament is – as the name implies – that it costs absolutely nothing to enter, but still rewards the winners with cash, prizes, points and/or seats in a bigger events
An example could best describe it - a $5000 freeroll means that the poker room is putting up $5000 in prize money for a tournament, and there is no entry fee into the tournament. A freeroll can also be used in reference to a poker game. It occurs when two players with the same hand are against each other. However, one player will have a draw to a stronger hand, and the other player will not. For example, suppose Joe has QJ of spades and Bob has QJ of diamonds. The board is AKT, with the ace and king of spades, and the ten of clubs. This means both Joe and Bob have a straight. However, Joe also has a draw to a flush. This means that either Joe and Bob will tie for the pot or Joe will win. In this case, Joe is considered to have a freeroll.
Types of Freerolls :
• Public Freerolls
Public Freeroll Tournaments are open to anyone, where a private Freeroll requires an invitation to enter. Being exclusive, private Freerolls are generally more valuable than public Freerolls, but this is not always the case. At online poker rooms, public Freeroll poker tournaments typically occur one or more times a day, awarding small cash prizes to the top finishers; such as $50, $100 or $250.
• Private Freerolls
Private Freeroll Tournaments are most often exclusive to “VIP” members of an online poker room, or sometimes for “new players only”; those who just recently signed up an account. These Private Freerolls tend to present much higher prizes, ranging anywhere from $500 to $10,000.
• Satellite Freeroll
Satellite Freeroll Tournaments are possibly the most popular of all because, even though there is no direct cash reward to the winner, you can earn a seat in a much more lucrative event. For example, various online poker rooms are currently running satellite Freerolls to the 2008 World Series of Poker. Winning one of these satellite Freeroll poker tournaments moves the player to the next stage of satellites, without paying any buy-in or fees. In essence, a player could find themselves seated at the World Series of Poker Main - including luxury hotel accommodations, travel expenses and extra spending cash - event without ever spending a single penny.
• Points Freerolls
Points Freeroll Tournaments are available at just about every online poker room. You will always find awards comp points for playing. These points can be used to enter tournaments, acquire merchandise and can sometimes even be converted to real cash. Points Freerolls award large amounts of these comp points to the top finishers, making them extremely valuable. Most Points Freerolls require a few points to enter, but with enough comp points under your virtual belt, you could find yourself in a much bigger Freeroll worth thousands in cold hard cash.
