Improving Via Play Money Poker

One of the major attractions playing poker has is the change to win vast sums of money by simply playing cards. Poker magazines are full of stories of young men and women winning life-changing amounts of money in poker tournaments whilst televised poker shows often show players battling it out for pots in excess of $200,000. Whilst this is all well and good and very entertaining, there are not many people in the world who can afford to sit down and go to war with these players, nor would they be advised to either.

Poker is full of stories of new players depositing money into a site and then losing it all only to never deposit again due to their confidence being shattered. Had these players sat down at the play money poker tables they would have not only enjoyed their experience more but they could have used the skills they had learned for free when they did eventually move up to real money play.

Using play money poker as a foundation

Play money poker is often mocked by real money players but those who do mock the free games should try to remember their roots and realise that not everyone is as risk averse as they are or once were when they were starting out in poker. Using play money is a great way to learn new games, game variants and is even the ideal place to try out new strategies and moves learned from the higher stakes players.

Whilst the majority of play money poker games do not play out in the same manner as real money games due to nobody having any financial risk associated with their mistakes, they are a great training ground for up and coming players or a fantastic way to blow off some steam if things have not been going the player's way in other games. Just as high stakes cash game players often drop down and play micro-stakes games and sit and raise every hand, the play money poker tables are a place where a player can go and move all in every hand and get the tilt out of their system.

As mentioned though, play money poker is not all about messing around at the virtual felt but it can also provide a great foundation for players wanting to eventually play for real money. Ladbrokes Poker allow their customers to take part in free cash games and tournaments throughout the day and even award real money prizes to some events! Those players who are completely new to poker, especially online poker, would be advised to sit in some of these games so that they can get used to the pace, the rules and the whole online poker experience.