Online Poker Freerolls
In the wondrous game of poker, the term freeroll has two distinct meanings for players. The first one refers to the playing of a single hand of poker, and the other meaning describes an entire online poker tournament. Supposedly the origin of the term comes from Las Vegas in the 1950’s. Players were given a free roll of nickels to play on the pokies machines as they entered the casino. In due course, players would expect these free roll and began demanding them so much that they gradually came to imply any complimentary gaming bonus. The term is now used in online poker essentially to mean a free poker tournament.
Therefore, now we speak of a freeroll in terms of it meaning an online poker tournament with no entry fee, but yet having a real money prize up for grabs. The benefits of such a tournament, apart from the obvious, is that it may be the ideal way to practice and improve your skills without having to wager any money. The difference between a freeroll tournament and playing free poker is that whereas free poker simply uses token markers and casino money that is of no real value, the pay-out at a freeroll tournament is of real money value. The prize is either real cash money, or given in the form of a ticket to a full real-money tournament.
Good, reputable poker sites, such as those found at OnlinePoker.org.nz, provide substantial benefits to attract new members. In New Zealand this means that new players opening accounts at the site, receive a few freerolls to help further their bankrolls when they get started in the game of poker. The better NZD poker sites may even offer free tournament tickets as well.
When starting out on a real, income-generating poker career, professional players regard freeroll poker tournaments as the first rung of the poker ladder. Many professional started out this way, and after winning some money playing in freeroll tournaments, accumulated enough money and tickets bigger tournaments, which set them up on their professional poker course.
| Rank | Poker Site | Bonus | Play | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | BetOnline |  | 5/5 | 200% Bonus | Play now |
| 2 |  | Tiger Gaming | | 4.9/5 | 100% Bonus | Play now |
Freeroll Limitations & Earning Potential
Freeroll tournaments are indeed free, although there can be some minor restrictions on entry, depending on the poker site itself. Occasionally the freeroll tournaments are limited to players who have recently signed up, or who played a certain number of real money poker hands at the site recently. Some freerolls are handed to players simply for being from a certain region, like New Zealand, following a famous poker player on Facebook or signing up at the site through a specific referral site. Clearly there is some searching involved in the acquisition of freeroll tickets, but for players on the lookout for these are absolutely sure to find plenty, more than enough to become a genuinely astute poker player and be able to embark on a lucrative poker adventure.
Regarding the potential winnings and pot sizes at freeroll tournaments, some of the prizes at freeroll tournaments are fairly small, but this can vary greatly, because New Zealand online poker sites have a history of paying out many millions in free cash from the prize pool at these tournaments. Typically, the better poker sites will be wanting to give players the proverbial leg-up, and will offer freeroll tournaments on a regular basis that offer a decent prize pot and a healthy start to an income generating poker career.