NO DEPOSIT POKER

Using Your Bankroll: Cash Games or Tournaments?

Players who receive free bankrolls at poker sites have a tough decision to make.  The amount of the bankroll isn’t always a huge one, so you don’t have the luxury of trying all of the games a poker room has to offer.  The core decision you need to make in this situation is whether you should play cash games or tournaments with your bankroll.

Which gives you a better chance of building your free bankroll into a large pile of cash?  The first thing you need to consider is the structure of the bankroll.  Do you receive the entire bankroll up front, or do you earn the bankroll as you earn points at the room?  If you receive the bankroll in increments, you should almost certainly play cash games, because tournaments are very high-variance.  You need a lot of luck to do well in tournaments, and it’s unlikely that you be able to earn enough points to get the whole bankroll before you go bust if you’re using your free money for tournament poker.

If you receive the bankroll upfront, however, that’s a different story.  Then you don’t have to worry as much about earning a certain amount of points, so you can afford to gamble a bit more.  Now tournaments seem more attractive, because it’s easier to hit a big score in one shot playing a tournament that it is when grinding out cash games.

What you absolutely don’t want to do is to take that bankroll into the casino.  Many sites with cash game poker also offer casino games, but resist the temptation to plunk down your chips at the virtual baccarat table –  doing so is the quickest way to lose your whole bankroll, and even playing in the casino may be against the terms of the offer.