As online poker exploded alongside the live poker boom in the early 2000s, more and more players wanted in on the tournament action that revolutionized the game of poker. Online poker tournaments were especially popular with recreational players who could invest a little and potentially earn a life-changing score.

That momentum has never slowed down. At safe and legal US online poker sites, there’s now truly a poker tournament for everyone, from low-stakes tournament series to turbo SnGs to sweepstakes poker tournaments for real cash prizes. The choices are almost endless. And that includes a wide range of free tournaments.

Replay Poker offers freeroll tournaments every hour around the clock, giving extra value to players no matter where they are in the world. Our freeroll schedule covers our whole range of game types, including Texas Holdem, Omaha and Royal Poker. The 24 daily freerolls give away a. Freerolls at PokerStars. Freerolls and tournaments with play money buy-ins are for those people, who want to play poker for free and at the same time win some real cash. These tournaments are brown-colored on the PokerStars’ tournaments list. You can play free real money poker games at PokerStars with the help of freerolls. Freerolls are of interest and of value to poker players for a number of reasons: Risk-Free Bankroll building – Given that these are free poker tournaments – you aren’t compelled to wager a cent. All you need to invest is time and skill in order to win a little cash to increase your bankroll, and to enable you to take a shot at real-money cashgames, sit and go tournaments or MTTs.

Free online poker tournaments for real money are the bread and butter of poker site offers for new players. These are real money options that help you build a poker bankroll without any financial commitment or risk.

Here’s how to take advantage of the best free poker tournament offers out there for US players.

Best Free Online Poker Tournaments

Here’s a table to get you started with free tournament ticket entries at legal US poker sites:

What is a “Freeroll” (AKA a free online poker tournament)?

A poker tournament in which a real money casino or real money online poker site puts up the entire prize pool is known as a “freeroll.”

There’s no entry fee to play and yes, youcan win real money. Prize pools vary, but this is actual money that players in the tournament will win if they finish high enough.

Why do online casinos and online poker sites offer free tournaments with real cash prizes? It’s similar to free play at a traditional, land-based casino. These events are a reward for new players who create a new account and even for those who are loyal to the platform.

Many online poker sites offer freerolls weekly or monthly for players who are already regulars on the site. These are a proven way to keep players coming back and a nice reward for hitting the tables.

New players also reap the benefits. Many sites offer freerolls specifically for new players, or they offer tournament tickets allowing you to play in some of the site’s regular buy-in events for free.

Other freerolls and ticket giveaways are used as part of special promotions and offer a great way to bet in the action without spending a dime of your own money.

Can I really win money in free tournaments?

Yes, free poker tournaments pay out just like a traditional poker tournament but the house (in this case the online poker site) covers the entire prize pool. Payouts are similar to a regular tournament – it’ll pay out a similar number of players as a typical tournament with entry fees.

Players new to a site may also be given free money to use in tournaments. Any winnings from those dollars can also be accumulated as in a traditional tournament, although there may be certain playthrough requirements before you can cash out.

The same goes for free tournament tickets you may qualify for when you sign up at a poker site. These tickets might be available for events like daily tournaments, major tournaments series, Spin & Go’s, sit & go’s, and other options.

All these can lead to real winnings. Unlike most gambling action, in this case it can really pay by simply playing for free.

Free Poker Tournaments with No Download

Most legal poker sites have specific software you need to download to play poker tournaments, either for a desktop/laptop computer or for your phone. Poker apps you download are optimized for playing poker tournaments right on your cell phone or tablet.

Global Poker, however, is available to players in every state (except Washington) and does not require a software download. This is a social gaming, sweepstakes casino site that lets you get in the action for free by making use of a virtual currency called Gold Coins.

This is a free-to-play currency allowing you to play in tournaments, sit & go’s, jackpot sit & go’s, and ring games (cash game-style action). You can have plenty of fun playing tournaments – including major series – without risking a penny.

The site also offers a second virtual currency called Sweeps Coins. This is a bonus currency awarded when you purchase additional Gold Coins. Unlike Gold Coins, however, players who accrue Sweeps Coins can redeem them for real cash prizes or gift cards.

As Global Poker is entirely browser based, you can log in and play any time without downloading any software to your phone or computer. You’ll find a nice platform with an easy-to-use lobby and nice game play options. Global has continued to improve that system, which functions well in either a web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Explorer, etc) and on a cell phone or tablet.

Global is owned by GVC Holdings, a publicly traded company in Australia, that specializes in sweepstakes-style gaming. The company is regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority and has become a trusted social gaming operator – a fun alternative to traditional online poker. Global Poker continues to grow and reached more than 1 million players in 2020.

Free Tournaments with Real Cash Prizes

Another key asset of Global Poker is that there is lots of free cash to be had via freerolls throughout the week. That includes the weekly Newsletter Freeroll.

This is available to players who simply open the weekly newsletter and make use of the password inside. There are also several Daily SC100 Hyper Turbo freerolls every day.

And, while not free, the site’s popular “Buck-a-ment” tournaments will only set you back SC1 and can be another way to accumulate a bankroll for a low price point.

Players purchasing Gold Coins will find an easy system where you’ll have to provide standard information and can feel secure their information and funds are safe. When redeeming those Sweeps Coins for cash prizes and gift cards, however, there will be one extra step to prove your identity. It’s an easy process and transferring to your bank is a simple process.

Free Poker Tournaments & Poker Leagues

Beyond Global Poker, many legal, regulated sites offer the chance to play poker online in the US for free with play chips or virtual coins as well. Big-name online poker brands including PokerStars, partypoker, 888poker, WSOP.com, and more make use of .NET sites to allow players some free poker tournament play.

Free poker allows for some fun and just passing some time playing poker at home. Some players never advance past free play online poker and prefer playing this way rather than for real money.

Players on the .NET sites will usually find plenty of tournament action as well. Playing for play money can be quite different than playing a tournament in your local casino. The action can be fast and loose as players don’t really have any “skin in the game,” but can also be a lot of fun.

Playing for free money at these sites is also a great way to learn the ins and outs of the software. You can check out the tournament lobby and game play before giving it a shot.

If you live out of state but are heading to play legal online poker in New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, or Delaware, you can go ahead and set up an account from home, make a deposit, and then play for free to learn the game and software before playing for real money when you get there.

Global Poker Gold Coins also offer a nice free money option. You can jump in the frequent freerolls and try to amass some Sweeps Coins without even purchasing additional Gold Coins to earn some SC.

What Types of Online Poker Tournaments Can You Find?

Those seeking out some freeroll action will find plenty to choose from. Most tournaments you will find will probably be in the most popular version of the game – No Limit Texas Hold’em.

However, some sites may reward free tournament tickets for new players and these might be used for other events including:

• Sit & Go (SnG) – A small single-table tournament perfect for those with only a short time to play.
• Multi-Table Tournament (MTT) – A larger daily or big event as part of major tournament series.
• Bounty tournaments – A type of tournament where part of the buy-in is a price on each player’s head and you win that cash when you knock out a player.
• Spin & Go – Short-handed, three- or four-player events with a quick pace. There is also a fun element of luck to these winner-take-all events, with the prize pool determined before the event usually by a spinning wheel. You can win as much as thousands timed the buy-in.
• Turbos – These are tournaments with quick blind levels. The clock moves quickly, so players have some fast and big decisions to make about their chip stacks and those blinds escalate quickly.
• Zoom (Fast-Fold) Poker – This is a quick-fold game variation where players are wicked away to a new table as they fold. No waiting in this one and can make for a fun time at the tables for those who don’t like to wait.

Free Poker Tournaments with Friends

Tournaments with friends can make for a nice evening with plenty of ribbing and bragging rights for the winner. Those players who may be spread out in different locations can also take advantage of playing in a tournament among friends online.

PokerStars.net has the best free poker tournament option with the “Home Games” feature. This is a free option to set up your own club with friends. Once your club is created you can send the club ID and password to friends. They can then join and once you approve them your club will have members.

When you’re ready to play, you can set up your next tournament including time, stakes, blind levels, games, and more. At PokerStars.NET you can take advantage of the numerous game formats too, from Texas Hold’em to online Omaha to Seven Card Stud and more.

While not quite as easy, it’s also pretty simple to meet at a sit and go table or ring game with friends at Global Poker. Whether you’re looking to play for Gold Coins or Sweeps Coins, if your group times it right you and your buddies can mix it up at a Global table even if it’s only a few of you.

The chat box features on these online platforms make for a nice way to chit chat and have some fun. Some players have been known to jump into a Zoom call as they play to catch up with friends. Playing free online tournaments with friends in this manner is completely legal and an excellent way to play some cards.

Learn more on our dedicated page here:

Free Poker Tournaments FAQ

Is winning free tournaments a sign you can win in real money tournaments?

That depends. While it can be fun, playing free tournaments can be much different as no player has real money in the game and no chance to win any real money. Players tend to play ultra loose in these types of events.

Freerolls, on the other hand, pay out real money, and while they may play loose, players tend to be just a little more sound because there is actually a shot at a real cash payday.

Whether your game transfers over from free poker to real money events will depend on your own skills and how you can adjust. As in all poker, it’s good to read the table, adjust, and see how you can exploit your opponent’s weaknesses.

How long do free online tournaments take?

That all depends on the size of the tournament field. Smaller sit and go events may last less than an hour. Larger multi-table tournaments may take a few hours depending on the field size.

However, turbo and Zoom tournaments move at an accelerated pace and may end faster. These can be perfect for a player short on time or for someone who just likes to see the action move along at a quicker pace.

If you’re given some free tournament tickets as a new user at a poker site, the choice of event can be all up to you. More traditional promotional freeroll events usually have a prize pool of a few hundred bucks to thousands of dollars. It can pay to jump in a freeroll.

What is the biggest cash prize for any free online poker tournament?

A player can win some nice money for a freeroll, but that prize pool will depend on the event, promotion, and poker site. Some sites may offer free events where you can win hundreds of dollars.

Other smaller events may only feature a $100 prize pool. But even winning $20 in an event like this can help a player build a bankroll for nothing. This money, or Sweeps Cash at Global Poker, can be accumulated and cashed out if you win a nice chunk of cash.

Are free poker tournaments really free?

Yes, these events have no entry fee and the online poker operator puts up the entire prize pools. These are often used as promotional events for new players or as a regular part of the site’s tournament offerings.

These can be seen as rewards for loyal players and offer a shot at real money. Popular regular freerolls can have large fields, but those for newer players must be much smaller and offer a better chance at getting in the money.

Some sites also give out tournament tickets for new players. These are free entries into certain events that allow a player to get in the action without having to put up a tournament free. With that free entry you have a shot at winning some real cash.

Why are they called “freerolls”?

Simply put, your entry and shot at some of that prize pool is free – as in a “free bankroll” for the event.

★★★ FREE + BANKROLL = FREEROLL ★★★

These are obviously popular with players as the site is paying for the prize pool out of its own pocket. Whatever you win is yours without putting up a dime – no strings attached. These are different from free tournament tickets, which are often given to new players. Tournament tickets give you a free entry into a tournament that usually requires paying an entry fee to play.

Can I really win real cash prizes?

Once you’ve scored some money in a freeroll – it’s yours. The online operator will send those winnings straight to your account. There may be some playthrough requirements for anyone who is using a signup or deposit promotion freeroll before cashing any of that out, but those free dollars are a great way to start building that online poker bankroll. It’s tough to beat a shot at some free money.

Let’s be honest –

Not everyone who wants to play online poker has a bankroll. Nor are they able to get backing, because they don’t have verifiable results and no one knows them.

Then there are others who do have a bankroll. But they’re levelheaded – they know they’re not ready to play online poker for real money.

So, what options do these people have?

One option is to play free poker games. You can play for free and learn your fundamentals before you dive into shark infested waters.

But that doesn’t help with the bankroll deficiency.

The next option – your best bet – is to play freeroll poker tournaments instead. Most poker sites offer them. Our top picks are below.

The point is this — freerolls can help you launch your poker career. But only if you’re patient and persistent, and only if you learn proper strategy.

We’re going to talk more about freeroll strategy later in this guide.

But first, let’s talk more about what a freeroll is and what makes it unique from other free games.

What are Poker Freeroll Tournaments?

Tournament freerolls are like free poker games. But there’s one major difference.

Freerolls have prizes. Sometimes they’re money. Other times they’re entries to tournaments with prizes.

Free poker games do not.

The competition in a freeroll is soft like a free money game. But because they award prizes, they can get hundreds or thousands of entrants. So, it will take a little bit of both luck and skill to make money from these.

Lots of people have done it. Some have managed to turn these small prizes into bankrolls they later grew to hundreds, thousands, even millions of dollars.

I’ve cashed in a freeroll or two, though I didn’t parlay mine into a lasting bankroll. But Chris Ferguson, Tom Dwan and Annette Obrestad have.

Ferguson did it as a challenge. But both Dwan and Obrestad launched their poker careers – earnings millions of dollars so far – playing poker freerolls.

You can do it, too. Your first step is to find the best site to join.

Nearly every poker site offers freerolls. Too many options can make it difficult to choose just one or two. So, here are the things we look for:

We would rather join a poker site that offers freerolls on a regular basis. That can be every four hours or twice per day. This is better than the sites who offer freerolls at random.

Even if it means the prize pools are smaller. Seriously.

We want regular tournaments because, like real money tournaments, you’re not going to cash in every single one of them. In fact, the larger the tournaments, the less often you should expect to cash.

The way to cash more often is to play more tournaments. The best way to do that is to join a site who offers frequent freerolls on a schedule.

For example, when Merge Gaming was worth joining back in the day, they ran freerolls every 2-4 hours. Fortunately, many of the sites we recommend do something similar.

Another thing we look for are larger prize pools. Because you don’t want to play for your share of $10, which might be split between 10, 25 or 50+ players.

We recommend looking for sites who offers a minimum of $100 for their freerolls. A cash can get you $5, $10 or even $20. A couple cashes – much less wins – will go a long way once you make the switch to the micro stakes.

Some poker sites let everyone sign up to their freerolls. Which means you might have to battle 4,586 players for your share of a $50 prize pool.

It’s not that you can’t do it, it’s just that the numbers aren’t in your favor. Even if you play well you’ll also need to get very, VERY lucky.

We prefer to find poker sites who cap the number of entrants. We’ve seen freerolls where the fields are limited to 600 or 1,000 players – the top 50 (or less) are paid.

That’s a lot of players. But it’s doable (and on a somewhat consistent basis).

Other sites limit their fields to 3,000 or 5,000 players. This is okay, but only if the prize pool is large enough to justify it. Otherwise it’s too big a field to fight through.

Most bonuses and promotions come with terms. For example, you must earn so many player points to clear your deposit bonus.

Sometimes poker sites have terms for their freerolls, too. The exact terms vary from site to site.

For example, we’ve seen sites who say their freeroll winnings are not cashable. But you can cash out the money you win with it. Others say you need to wager so many dollars before you can cash out, while others say you need to make a nominal deposit first.

We suggest finding a poker site who has as few terms and restrictions as possible.

10 Freeroll Poker Strategy Tips

Okay, so now you’ve found a site or two and got signed up. The next step is to play freerolls. And, one of the common questions we’re asked is, how the heck do you win?

Here are 10 tips which should help you out.

In the early stages, many players will go all in preflop to try to double or triple up. This includes players with any two cards …because why not?

Don’t get involved in this. Yeah, you might get lucky. But 25+ percent of the time you’re going to bust early. And doubling or tripling up early on is no guarantee you’ll run deep or cash anyway.

We recommend you stick to the top of your range early on. Play pairs, KQ, AJ, AQ and AK. Limp small pairs (to set mine) and only play them post-flop if you hit a set.

You should go all in (pre-flop) with QQs+. Jacks are questionable. You can play them aggressively -or- set mine. The same goes for hitting these hands on the flop. You should plan to play AJ+ and KQ+ aggressively post-flop unless the flop is draw-heavy.

This piggybacks off the last tip, but it’s that important. Too many players try to get too creative with their hands. But if freerolls, your opponents will call you with any two just because. So, you might as well get paid. When you hit your hand, bet, bet, bet.

Many players make the mistake of tightening up near the (cash) bubble. This is a huge mistake. Your goal should always be to win. You might bust more often, but the times you don’t you’ll make deeper runs for larger cashes, profiting more money overall.

There are exceptions. For example, if you have 5 big blinds left on the money bubble it’ll make more sense to try to squeak into the money. But unless you’re desperate, go for the win.

Beginners start stealing the blinds too soon in tournaments. The problem is the blinds aren’t worth stealing relative to what they’ll add to your stack. But when you wait for antes, stacks are shorter relative to the blinds AND the antes add dead money to pot which will make a significant difference in your stack when you pick them up.

The reason why we recommend staying tight early on is so you can get more active later (when antes kick in). The benefit to this strategy is that most players will think you’ve been card dead the whole tournament, but now suddenly you’re getting good hands. So, they’ll get out of your way. You’ll be able to steal the blinds uncontested more than not.

Bluffs only work against players who’re capable of folding. Most freeroll players are not. So, it’s not going to make sense to bluff unless you know you’re up against a thinking player.

When you play a hand, you need to think a couple steps ahead. You got to have a plan for how you’ll play your hand if you connect on the flop.

For example, when you play an Ax hand, the goal is to bet. But say you hit top pair while holding A3o with 4 other players in the pot. Are you going to feel good betting this hand for value?

Probably not. Not only will you not like it, but chances are someone has your hand dominated.

A better strategy is to play hands that aren’t often dominated on the flop. You’ll get in trouble less often. You’ll feel better about betting for value, too.

Most beginners don’t adjust their strategy for different table sizes. Many full-ring tournaments will have as few as 5-6 players when players have busted or when the tournament’s winding down. They continue to stick to a tighter hand range.

This is a good opportunity for you to explode – open more hands and steal more blinds. Not only that, but hands go up in value in short-handed play. This includes your weaker Ax and Kx hands. Even when you’re called you can feel good about holding a hand like A9s or KJ.

This is another reason why it makes sense to stay tight early on. You’ll have a tight image, which will allow you to open several hands and steal several pots uncontested. This is much easier to do at a shorthanded table.

A great way to add easy chips to your stack is to “reshove” over preflop limps or raises once antes have kicked in (in the later stages). The reason why this works so well is because most players will have a wide opening range, which means they’ll fold often. And because there will be so much (dead) money in the pot relative to your stack, you don’t have to win the pot very often for it to be a profitable play.

And when you do win the pot you’ll add a ton of chips to your stack.

You’ll notice our tips are a mix of generic poker tips and common low stakes SNG/MTT strategy. But that’s because poker freerolls are going to play the same way.

For that reason, when you’ve practiced these tips and want to learn more, we suggest you read up on more beginner/low stake MTT strategy. It’ll help you out.

After you’ve played a few freerolls, chances are you’ll have cashed or are on the brink of your first one. Which means you’ll want to know this:

Most players will want to parlay this into a bankroll. To move up in stakes and start playing games that aware real money prizes.

And that’s a great idea. But, only if you’re ready.

For one thing, you should only make the jump if you’re comfortable with your poker skills. It won’t be a huge transition, moving from freerolls to real money games. But it’ll help you a ton if you have the basic MTT fundamentals and strategy down.

Then there’s your bankroll.

We don’t recommend switching to real money games with a tiny bankroll. It’s great that you’ve won $10 or $20, but you’ll struggle to find traction if that’s all you take with you to the micro stakes. A bad bout of variance will send you to the showers.

Instead, we recommend having a minimum of $100 before making the switch to real money games. This will give you 20 buy-ins for $0.2/$0.05 or $0.05/$0.10 cash games, or about 30-50 buy-ins for the $1-$3 SNGs.

We recommend playing SNGs because they’re great for learning MTT fundamentals. They’re much easier on your bankroll, too.

But that’s only one-half of the battle. You also need to learn how to manage your bankroll, unless you want to go back to playing freerolls. You can learn about bankroll management here.

And there you have it. That’s how you can build your poker bankroll and launch your career playing freeroll tournaments.

FAQ

Here are some common questions we regularly get about poker freerolls and freeroll poker sites (and our answers).

These are for community run freerolls. These are hosted by/for a specific website, organization or home game. These aren’t for you unless you’re invited or part of one of these groups.

Many players will go out of their way to steal these passwords. Then play the games to win money that’s not meant for them.

This isn’t very nice or ethical. Please don’t do it.

Freeroll Tournaments For Usa Players

The biggest difference between free play or free games is you cannot win money. You’re given free chips and you can play any free game you can afford to buy into. But there are no real money prizes. You’ll only win more free chips.

But with freerolls you can win real money prizes – like cash or tournament entries.

Not much. Both offer real money prizes.

The biggest difference is that the VIP freerolls are available only to players on a specific VIP level (or all levels). Players who aren’t VIP members can’t play. One benefit to this is a smaller playing field. The prizes are usually better, too. And it is money the poker site puts up to reward their loyal customers.

There are lots of reasons why you might consider playing freerolls. Here are some of the biggest benefits:

• Practice strategy. This is a good opportunity to practice the strategy and tactics you’ve read about. Want to practice c-betting? Stealing the blinds? 3-betting? This is a good opportunity to not only try it, but to learn when, whom against and how much to bet.
• Build a bankroll. This is one of the best reasons. If you don’t have money, or maybe just want to challenge yourself, then you might want to play freerolls to build your bankroll.
• Learn patience. It’s going to take a fair amount of time, not only to cash or win a freeroll, but to build a large enough bankroll so that you can move on to real money games. Without patience, you won’t go very far.
• Learn bankroll management. This piggybacks off the last point. You’ll first need to be patience and save up your money until you have enough for the games you want to play. Then your bankroll won’t likely be very big. So, you’ll need to be patience and play within your means to avoid going broke. Playing freerolls can be a long and painful (and painfully boring) process. The more you take huge and unnecessary risks, the more time you’ll have to spend playing them.
• Learn and play different games. Many freerolls run games other than holdem. If you want to play and learn a new game without risking your bankroll, freerolls are a great way to do it.

How To Poker Tournaments Work

All you should have to do in most cases is create an account. Then find and join a freeroll.

Sometimes you might have to be a VIP member, though, which means you’ll need to create an account, make a deposit and play for real money first.

Free Poker Tournaments

Yes. So long as the poker site offers freerolls on mobile devices. Many poker rooms don’t offer all their games and stakes for mobile devices. The only way to know for sure is to read our reviews or download the poker room’s app.

Yes. In fact, some of the best freerolls are (and have been) on US-facing poker sites. We suggest starting with BetOnline, who routinely offers daily/weekly freerolls.

Some of the different kinds of freerolls you’ll find are:

• No-restrictions. These usually have a prize pool of $100 or less. Entrants may be up to 5,000.
• Recent deposit requirement.
• Player point buy-ins.
• Player reward tier threshold.
• Private community-run freerolls.

Most of them offer freerolls to incentivize and encourage players to play. And when players win from freerolls, sometimes there will be terms they got to follow – like making a deposit or wagering so much money – before they can cash out.

Free Poker Tournaments For Real Money

Between the terms and winning money, this can encourage players to deposit more, which is something poker rooms want. It’s how they make money.

In other cases, they do it as a promotion. To give back to their VIP (loyal) players. Other times it’s to promote a live event the freeroll is a satellite to.

Freeroll Poker Tournaments For Real Money Payouts

It depends on where you play. Some poker sites will let you cash out your winnings. Other rooms may have terms you need to follow first. This could mean making a nominal deposit or wagering so much money (like a casino bonus) before you can cash out.

In other cases, the freeroll winnings may not be cashable. But you can use them to play real money games where any money you earn from those IS cashable.

Free Online Poker Tournaments For Real Money

Casinos put these types of rules in place to protect themselves from people who sign up only to play freerolls and cash out their winnings.