Play money games are very popular among Texas Holdem newbies and are available in almost all online poker rooms. In these games, where no real money is wagered, players do not actually risk anything of value, but they don’t win anything too. Texas Holdem played for fake, virtual chips is a game of fun, not skill. In fact there are much more play money players than real money players on web, because it is a thrilling free form of online entertainment. Some people enjoy play money game to pass the time and some to learn the basics of Texas Holdem poker.

However, although play money games are really entertaining, they are extremely limited in ability to help master player skills and even dangerous for those, who plan to become a winning real money player. If you are planning to become a successful Texas Holdem real money player, it is strongly recommended that you use play money games only to accomplish the following purposes:

• Learn or help somebody understand the basics of the game

• Learn or help somebody to get used to online poker software

Play money games aren’t useful for mastering your Texas Holdem skills. Learning to defeat your opponents at a play money table will only teach you to beat play money players. Although play money games can give you the basic understanding of Texas Holdem strategy, there is always a danger that you will learn bad habits that’ll actually cause terrific losses, when you decide to start playing in real money games.

Play money players always tend to play almost all starting hands. Why fold if in the worst case you lose easy-reloadable play money? That’s why winning at play money tables is extremely easy. The simplest strategy to beat play money players is to play just good starting hand.

Although you will play fewer hands than your opponents, you’ll finally grab all chips at the table. But what’s the point?

You won’t see such a play at real money tables, where players aren’t nearly that stupid as they are in play money games. In real money games all players risk their money, so if you go all-in on a board of Ace, King and 10 of the same suit, very rarely will any of your opponents call you with some poor, unsuited kickers, while in play money games this sort of move would certainly be usual. To be brief, play money players are happy to waste their virtual chips and in real money games the players aren’t nearly that generous.

This key difference between the two games greatly affects the strategies applied in both Texas Holdem variants. The simplest winning play-money strategy involves rather loose preflop, hoping to hit a strong hand at the flop. In real money games, since people won’t simply throw their money at the table, you need to play tighter preflop and only see the flop with good starting hand.

Moreover, easy wins at play money games often deceives novice players with false confidence promising easy play in real money games. Try not to repeat this mistake and understand that winning at play money games has nothing to deal with winning at real money games.

Play money players usually act too loose at real money tables. They simply fail to realize what mistakes they make, because the habits and understanding of the game they learned were pretty successful in play money games.

However, while play-money ring games have important differences in comparison to real money ring games, there are several types of play-money games that are somewhat more similar to their real-money variants. The easiest example is large play-money MTTs versus large real money freerolls. The only difference between these competitions is that in freerolls you have a chance to win a cash prize.

In fact, the size of prize is the key factor of similarity of these competitions – smaller freerolls are more similar to play money multi-table tournaments and vice versa, because if a freeroll prize is just $50, then players won’t be focused as they would be if the prize was $20,000.

Play money single table tournaments are also somewhat similar to low buy-in real money single table tournaments. The basic Texas Holdem strategy in both types of tournaments is almost similar – success relies in cautious play in the beginning of the tournament and aggressive play in the end.

However, even in the lowest buy-in tournaments players still try harder than in their play money counterparts. To be brief, you won’t do your best, when the stake is just your pride and you’ll use your skills, logical and strategic thinking, if real money are about to leave your pocket or jump into it.

Also recommended:

1. Achieving Goal Three: Making It into the Money
2. Money Management in Poker
3. Depositing Money into an Poker Player Account and Cashing Out
4. Play Poker Information
5. Why play Texas Holdem?