Some of the best poker sites not only offer a superb range of , cash games, and but also free poker tournaments. These freeroll poker tournaments give you the chance to play for free and win real money. What’s not to like?
The main difference between a regular tournament and a freeroll is one is free and the other isn’t.
Unless stated, all the tournaments you find on the are open to all players and that includes our . This means you can sit down and compete against professionals for free (and win some money in the process). It’s an excellent way to learn how to play in position, hone your check-raising skills or just have fun without spending any money.
In this guide, we’ve outlined everything you need to know about free no deposit poker tournaments including where to find them, how they work, and why you should play them.
Top Online Poker Freerolls by State
Here are the top poker sites offering free online poker tournaments by state:
Our recommended poker sites not only offer the best welcome bonuses, great promotions, soft competition, and big guarantee tournaments – both free and real money – but they are also . This means you can play on these sites legally and safely within the laws of online gaming in your state.
To skip the reader reviews, click “Play Here” on the poker app above to sign up via our links and get access to free daily poker tournaments online today.
Best Sites with Free Poker Tournaments
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1. Global Poker - Best Site for Free Tournaments
is our number pick when it comes to free poker tournals for US players. This online gaming site uses a prepaid card model which makes it . Essentially you can purchase gold coins and use them to play free no deposit poker tournaments and cash games. Alternatively, you can earn more gold coins by completing achievements and inviting friends.
Alternatively, you can swap your gold coins for sweeps coins which can be redeemed for prizes. You can earn sweep coins by purchasing them or by sending gift gold coins. Sweeps coins can be used to enter free online poker tournaments that award cash prizes.
Pros & Cons of Playing at Global Poker
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Free Tournament Prizes are Real Cash
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New Themed Tournaments Daily
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Huge Range of Tournament Types
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Tournaments Start Every Minute or Two
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Tournaments Suitable for Beginners and Experts
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Massive Community Means Soft Competition
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Gold Coins Are Not Redeemable for Cash/Prizes
2. WSOP.com - Best for Guaranteed Prize Pools
The has its own online poker site and that’s . This official home of the World Series of Poker offers a variety of ways to enjoy poker for free online. We would argue the best way to play free No Limit Hold’em tournaments is through the site’s weekly .
These online poker freerolls run every Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Local time and offer a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. The top prize is set at $2,500 and is payable in WSOP.com dollars. You can use these WSOP dollars to enter future tournaments on the site for free.
Pros & Cons of Playing at WSOP.com
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9-Game Mix Tournaments
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Weekly Online Bracelet Events
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World-Class Software and Features
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Big Guaranteed Prize Pools
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Safe and Secure Withdrawals
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Associated Integrity of the WSOP
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Not Available Every State
3. PokerStars - Most Tournaments
If there is one operator that knows how to run tournaments, it’s . This world-renowned gaming site runs more than 270 tournaments every single day and a large proportion of those are completely free.
There are so many different types of event too. From sit & go’s to weekly leaderboards, daily freerolls and even satellites that allow you to win tickets for major events such as the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) for free. Basically, if you want to play online poker tournaments for free and win something, PokerStars is definitely the place to start.
Pros & Cons of Playing at PokerStars
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Massive Range of Tournaments and Games
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Fastest Paying Site, Sometimes Instantly
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Biggest Online Tournament Provider
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Snap Poker and Spin Games
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Great Mobile App and Software
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Biggest Online Bonus
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Not Available in Every State
How to Find Free Poker Tournaments Online
Finding the best free poker tournaments online is easy if you know where to look. Our team of experts has been testing online gaming sites since 2001. We know what to look for when it comes to free no deposit poker tournaments and here’s a few things you should do when getting started…
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– choose a safe and reputable site from our recommendations above. If you see a listing for free poker online tournaments, great. However, you can play at any online poker room as you may get surprise freerolls or additional events announced by email.
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Check the terms and conditions – before you play at a new site it is imperative you understand what happens when you win events. In most cases, you’ll be able to withdraw your winnings without any issues. However, you might have to convert your currency at the site’s rate or prove your identity first. It’s also worth noting that while most online poker freerolls offer real money as a prize, others might offer tournament tickets instead.
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Look for the “Tournaments” tab – once at the poker site, locate the tournaments tab and then select all the options. This will show you all the scheduled poker tournaments online for that day. Filter through the options and you should be able to find any free events that are running. If you can’t see anything, keep checking back as more events will be added throughout the day.
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Note the time zone – online poker sites serve a global market which is why their schedules often reflect that. When looking at the schedule, make sure you note the time zone. Otherwise you may think an event is running at midday when really it’s at midnight.
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Take part – turn up on time and register for the event. Even if the tournament is free, it’s always nice to tip the dealer/staff if you’ve got money in your account and are chatting to them. Also, make sure you have enough time to commit to the tournament. Even though you’re not spending money, time is precious and you don’t want to waste nine hours because you forgot about a marathon event.
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Have fun – finally, remember to enjoy yourself. Free online poker tournaments should be fun. It’s a great way to test your skills against other players and perhaps pick up some tips while doing so.
For step-by-step instructions on how to register, play, and withdraw your winnings, check our detailed guide on .
Why Play Free Online Poker Tournaments?
Aside from the fact you don’t have to pay to enter, there are several reasons why you should consider playing free poker tournaments online. Indeed, even if you have to pay for an event, we’d still say it’s worth considering entering. Below, we explain why free online poker tournaments are valuable and why you should take advantage of as many as possible.
1. Practice Your Skills
One of the main reasons why you should play online poker tournaments for free is practice. As the old adage goes, practice makes perfect. Therefore, the more you play, the better you will become. And if you don’t have to pay to enter an event, you can play as many tournaments as you like without breaking the bank.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve just installed to get some experience or a seasoned pro looking to brush up on certain skills, free poker games online are available for everyone. Plus, the competition is usually quite strong, which means you’ll have to bring your A game if you want to win anything.
2. Learn About Different Formats
There are countless different ways to play Texas Hold’em. Yes, the aim is always to end up with all the chips at the end, but the route you take to get there can vary significantly.
By playing as many free poker online tournaments as possible, you’ll soon learn about different formats, structures, rules, and variations. For example, some events award equal starting stacks while others use rebuys and add-ons. Some tournaments are turbo affairs, whereas others use standard blind levels.
You’ll also encounter different kinds of bounty tournaments where you receive rewards for knocking out other players. Learning about these subtle nuances will help you when it comes to choosing tournaments that suit your style and strategy. There’s no point picking events at random if you’ve never played them before. Doing so will simply cause you undo stress and anxiety.
That’s why practicing in free tournaments is ideal. Once you know how an event works, you can then apply your strategic knowledge and try to win some money.
3. Develop Patience and Discipline
Two of the most important attributes a winning poker player can have are patience and discipline. Indeed, you could have the best in the world, but if you lack patience and discipline, you won’t maximize your potential.
When you’re first learning , you may be tempted to play lots of hands in the hope of hitting something and winning a pot. However, this strategy won’t work long term. That’s why it’s important to develop patience and discipline from the outset.
Free online poker tournaments are the perfect environment in which to nurture these qualities. If if doesn’t matter if you miss a couple of hands or play less than your opponents. The fact you’re not paying to enter means missing a tournament is not economically damaging. So, you can afford to be fussy about the hands you play and wait for the ones you want.
By taking this approach, you’ll soon realize there are far easier ways to make money. For example, putting the washing out on a sunny day is infinitely more lucrative if you get hit with a stray tennis ball and break your leg. Sitting at a table filled with limp-callers who fold to raises is up there with the lowest paid jobs going.
4. Win Real Money
Despite the fact you enter these events for free, the amount you can win is considerable. As the field size determines the prize pool, it’s possible to turn these freerolls into genuine money spinners.
real money casino online usaFor example, if 10,000 players enter a freeroll with a base prize pool of $10,000 (for which they’ve all paid nothing), that’s a decent return for doing absolutely nothing. Of course, not everyone is going to win money. However, if you’ve got a modicum of skill, you should be able to survive longer in these events than the average player.
And survival is key. After all, the last player standing not only wins a huge sum of money but also loads of runner-up points. Depending on the size of the field, the winner could walk away with $2,000-$5,000 for around six to seven hours’ work. That’s an extremely high hourly rate and is why professional poker players love these events.
5. Rise Up the Online Poker Rankings
Myles Konig
WPT Player
Racking up points in online tournaments can help you move up the leaderboard and unlock special benefits. For example, MyBookie has a monthly leaderboard where the top three players in holding a certain amount of points in their account at the end of the month wins a share of $10,000. But that’s not the only way to accrue points. You also gain points for tournament entries and this is where freerolls come in handy.
Entry + $1 rebuys = 1 Point per player
Rebuy + Add-On = entry x 5
Percentage Seat + Add-On = Entry x 3
Best PayPal Casino Sites in UK - Top Online Casinos with PayPal (2023)Outside of direct entries and rebuits, the only other way to earn points is by finishing in a certain position. This varies depending on the field size, but it’s roughly based on the following scale:
Now, you aren’t going to win hundreds of tournaments, especially if you only play a handful of times each month. However, if you enter as many freerolls as possible and rebuy/add-on when necessary, you can rack up a lot of points.
For example, if you play ten tournaments a day (so 250 tournaments in a month), and rebuy/add-on in four of those events, that’s approximately 975 entries/rebuy/add-ons at 1x points each. This equals 975 points. Now, let’s say you cash in 50% of those events (125 cashes) and the field sizes average at 100 players each, that’s roughly 37,500 in prize money, and 375 points per cache at 3x points each.
This means, under the best circumstances, you’d generate 1,190 points from cashes alone. Add that to the 975 direct points and 375 for the tourneys where you didn’t win anything, and you’ve already hit 2,725 points. Bear in mind, you also get points for MTTs that have been cancelled, so there’s even more potential to rack up leaderboard points.
At the end of the month, the top three players in the leaderboard will get $5,000, $3,000 and $1,000 respectively. Therefore, it’s well worth targeting as many online poker tournaments for free if leaderboard points are on offer.
6. Earn Satellites for Bigger Events
Another benefit of playing low-cost and free tournaments is you can use them to qualify for bigger events. All good operators run satellites for various live and online tournaments. Of course, it makes no financial sense to enter a $100 satellite knowing you have to finish first to win a $10,000 seat.
However, if you can reduce the cost of entry or win a seat for free, that’s great. For instance, a $50 satellite with a single seat for $10,000 buy-in is reasonable value if you can finish in the top spot. Similarly, sprints that allow you to earn seats based on points accumulated are also very fair. Therefore, running up a streak in $1 tournaments and earning a free seat worth $10,000 seems like a bargain.
As many of the like WSOP, host their own series of events, and accept deposits and withdrawals in cryptocurrency, this is a great option for US players wanting to play online poker tournaments for free and potentially win a prestigious seat at a famous series.
7. Progression
Another reason why you should play free poker online tournaments is progression. This is an age-old betting strategy which encourages you to stay patient and rise with the wins and fall with the losses.
Essentially, progression is a way of minimizing losses and maximizing gains. By adding units to your bets when you win and removing them after losses, you can control the swings associated with variance and give yourself a better opportunity to book a profit.
Obviously, it makes no sense staking poker tournaments in the same way. You can’t add or remove buy-ins, and it would be ridiculous to stake $10 cash on rising through the payments steps, especially as payment thresholds vary from site to site.
What you can do, however, is use a form of unit-based progression inside tournaments. For example, you could agree to raise your usual pre-flop raise by two units every time you win a tournament. Equally, you could drop one unit every time you fail to min-cash in a tournament.
Over time, this should help you gravitate towards bigger scores without risking too much in any one event. It will also stop you entering tournaments for the sake of it, and allow you to focus on events that offer value.
In many ways, using a basic progression system inside tournaments is similar to the approach you should take when selecting the events themselves. Start small, min-cash/win, graduate to the next level, min-cash/win, and then move up again. Keep repeating this process, and you should climb the rankings nice and quickly.
How to Win Free Texas Hold’em Poker Tournaments Online
OK, so now you know why you should play as many online poker free tournaments as possible. The final piece of the jigsaw is finding out how to win them. Remember, although you’re not spending money to enter these events, your opponents aren’t any less skilled just because the buy-in is free. In fact, some of them may be even more skilled because they know how rare a victory in these events is.
Casinos Worth Visiting Near Fresno, CAWith this in mind, you need a solid strategy if you want to win free Texas Hold’em poker tournaments online. We’ve outlined some general tips below that should help you go deep in these events:
- Be Patient – as you’re not paying for rebuys, you can afford to be fussy about the hands you play. Wait for quality starting cards and avoid marginal hands, unless you have a specific plan (more on this later).
- Avoid Firefights – some players see a full field and think it’s time to start firing on all cylinders. They hope to trap late position calls and win a stack of chips. This rarely works in cash games, and it’s even worse in tournaments. Avoid firefights at all costs and conserve your chips.
- Steal Blinds – the opposite of firefighting is stealing blinds. This is an essential skill in tournaments, whether you’re playing cash games or . Essentially, you want to take 6-8 big blinds every orbit. This puts pressure on your opponents and stops them from cruising through the early stages.
- Use a Plan – if you’ve played plenty of hands and not gotten anywhere, mix things up. For example, raise with a hand you wouldn’t normally raise with, or call a raise with a hand you wouldn’t normally call with. This throws your opponents off your trail and gives you a new lease of life.
- Don’t Get Emotional – losing players can get frustrated and make rash decisions. Even winners can sometimes fall victim to tilt, especially if they’ve had a drought for a number of orbits. Remain calm, composed, and rational at all times. Taking a breather is allowed, so if you feel yourself slipping into a negative headspace, close the table and walk away for five minutes.
- Study Your Opponents – pay attention to what people are doing. If someone is only entering multiple pots pre-flop but folding post-flop, they may be on a limited range. Equally, if someone is three-betting light, they may have a wider range. Try to put people into groups and adjust your strategy accordingly.
- Adjust Your Strategy – once you’ve pigeonholed your opponents, adjust your strategy. For example, if someone is only entering multiple pots pre-flop but folding post-flop on a tight range, it’s okay to wide-range them when they raise. Conversely, if someone is three-betting light, you may want to shy away from your usual calling ranges and either fold or four-bet.
How to Qualify for Free Poker Tournaments
Some events are free to enter, and you don’t necessarily have to do anything to gain access. For example, the aforementioned WSOP.com $10,000 Wednesday night tournament offers a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool for free.
Other events may require you to accrue points in order to gain entry. This is usually based on your level of activity. Thus, the more tournaments you play and the more points you generate, the more tickets you’ll earn.
Finally, some operators may run freerolls as part of a marketing campaign. This might be for a new site, a new network, or to promote an upcoming series of events. Either way, you will usually have to register your details and possibly download the software to gain access.
Tips on Finding the Best Poker Tournaments Online
To recap, here are some quick-fire tips on finding the best online poker tournaments for free:
- Check the Schedule – the first port of call is the tournament schedule. All of our recommended operators have their own scheduling pages which you can access via the “Tournaments” tab. Scan through the events of the day and filter out anything that doesn’t fit your requirements.
- – if you’re looking for weekly events, for example, it saves time clicking through each schedule each week.
- Look for Freerolls – some operators hide their freerolls, whereas others advertise them prominently. If you can’t find any free events via the tournament lobby, check the promotions page, or contact customer support via live chat.
- Rebuy/Add-On – some of the best online poker tournaments for free actually involve rebuy/add-on events. This allows you to extend your tourney life twice apiece, which basically doubles your chances of min-cashing.
- Consider Satellites – low-cost and freerolls are great ways to win tickets for bigger events. Even if you lose, there will likely be fewer players and bigger prize pools. This gives you more bang for your buck and allows you to learn about higher-stakes tournaments before parting with large sums of money.
Online Poker Tournaments for Free vs Low Stakes Cash Games
Should you use the money you win from online poker tournaments for free to play low stakes cash games?
Well, it depends. If you’re a novice trying to learn the intricacies of the game, it’s probably best to leave this strategy alone. That’s because you’re still learning and making mistakes. Indeed, cash games can be even more brutal than tournaments in some respects. Unlike tournaments, there are no ante-ups and you can’t bluff in a vacuum. If your range is weak and you’re making lots of mistakes, astute opponents will pick up on this and bleed you dry.
Conversely, if you’ve been playing for years, maybe this is a good way to generate some income. Remember, even if you lose a stack in cash games, you haven’t really lost any money. You’ve exchanged virtual tokens for another virtual stack. The only time money changes hands is when you initially deposit to clear wagering requirements. If there are no withdrawal fees, it’s technically impossible to lose money in online poker.
So, once you’ve cleared your deposit bonus (if you chose to deposit), moving your profits over to cash games is a good way to build your credibility and reputation. If you win consistently, people will start to respect you and view you as a serious player. This will, in turn, make you money in the long run.
We must add a word of caution, however. Never get carried away. Just because you’ve got $1,000 in token balance does not mean you can afford things. Only spend money you’ve won on cash games, and don’t start believing you’re rich. Until you’ve withdrawn your profits, you’re still playing with fun money.
Online Poker Tournaments for Free vs Satellites
Should you try to win your way to big tournaments for free via satellites, or should you pay late registration and turn up like everybody else?
Once again, this comes down to personal preference and ability. If you’re a recreational player looking for a good time, there’s no reason to qualify for events like the WSOP Online via satellites rather than buying in directly.
However, if you’ve got your heart set on playing certain events and your bankroll can’t stretch to the buy-in/reg fee, satellites are a fantastic way to qualify. Yes, you will need a degree of skill to win your way through. But, if you’ve got the ability, it’s a thrilling ride that allows you to play in events you normally wouldn’t contend.
Does Playing Free Poker Tournaments Online Improve Your Game?
Absolutely. Regardless of your ability or experience level, playing free poker tournaments online will improve your game. If you’re a novice, you’ll learn the basics and figure out what you need to do to survive and, hopefully, thrive.
Experienced players can also benefit from free poker games online. This is because the dynamics are usually quite different to cash games. People aren’t afraid of going broke, which leads to some interesting strategies and plays. Some of which you can transfer to your cash game arsenal.
Online Poker Tournaments for Free vs Live Poker Tournaments
Can you use what you’ve learned online to succeed in ? Absolutely, particularly if most of your poker experience has been gleaned behind a screen.
Live poker is, in many ways, a watered-down version of online poker. Sure, there are no zoom functions and you can’t multi-table, but the fundamentals remain the same. The idea is still to accumulate chips and avoid losing them.
Position, reads, stack sizes and starting hands are just as important in a live casino as they are online. Therefore, the thousands of hours you’ve clocked behind a computer screen will stand you in good stead when you eventually make the transition to the felt.
Final Word on Free Online Poker Tournaments
In conclusion, when we ask, “are there free poker tournaments near me?” the answer is yes. Well, aside from the whole “near me” thing. There aren’t, at least not physically. However, there are tons of free online poker tournaments available right now if you live in the US. What’s more, you can use the online poker apps highlighted on this page on your mobile.
So, instead of trawling through a list of local poker tournaments and finding zilch, head online. You’ll find a plethora of freerolls and low-cost tournaments that offer enormous prize pools.
Our favorite site for free poker tournaments is . This is primarily down to its status as a social gaming platform. In other words, you don’t even have to deposit or wager to play global players. Global Poker operates on a unique sweeps model which allows you to win rewards that can be cashed out via cheque or gift cards.
That makes it the best site for free poker tournaments in the US. However, if you’re happier using actual USD and converting your winnings into cold, hard cash, any of our top three operators - BetOnline, Ignition Poker and DuckyLuck Social Casino - are ideal.
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