Ever been in a friendly free game of poker with a few friends and thought “well stuff it, its only a freepoker game what do I have to lose by calling this raise with 2 5 off suit?”

I’ll tell you exactly what you have to lose, and more importantly what you don’t get the chance to gain.

First and foremost, if you are serious about improving the way you play poker online and refining your poker skills, play every game, ever set of cards, as you would if there were real stakes on the line. Although there may not be an immediate reward for playing your hand well, like a nice juicy cash pot; in the bigger picture the reward can be much greater, it will be experience, and that isn’t something you can win or buy!

What better way to improve your game than when there is no money on the line? For this reason free games can be invaluable. Free games of poker are a great way to fine tune your skills and try to make plays you wouldn’t other wise have the guts to make.

Knowledge is another great asset that you stand to gain from playing in free games. You can work on learning to read your opponents at no cost to your hip pocket.

When I first started playing at PokerStars.de I focused only on what cards I had in my hand and the cards on the board. After a while I realized that poker was much, much more than just what cards I had, its also what my opponent is holding (which can be even more important than the cards that you hold in your own hand). So I figured I had to learn how to read players and put them on a hand.

Now how did I go about learning these skills that I needed? Free tournaments of course! I would go down to one or two free poker tournaments per week and do something that may seem a bit strange at first but ended up teaching me a lot. I would play my hands as I usually would, but every fourth or fifth I would play my hand without looking at my cards! I would be playing the other players in the pot, if I thought someone was bluffing I would call them regardless of my two faceless cards, if I put them on a genuine hand I would fold. This cost me no real money to do, and it allowed me to see if my read was correct when the other player was forced to open his hand. By doing this I gained valuable skills that I will have with me for the rest of my life.

Secondly have you heard the saying “you play as you train”? well think of free games as your training! if you fool around calling on long odds, entering pots with hands you usually wouldn’t, and in general just playing poor poker you will teach yourself bad habits and these could be the difference of coming out a winner or a looser when it counts!

Poker is a game that can never be mastered, and there is always something to learn no matter how many years you have been playing at PokerStar.de!

So don’t dismiss a free game as just a waste of time, and just fool around. Instead see them as a great opportunity to improve your game, fine tune your skills and perhaps make a great play or two that you other wise wouldn’t have the courage to make.