Beat Fish to Beat Sharks

When you sign up for a freeroll at your favorite online poker room, do you play for real? Do you sit down, clear your area of distractions, and try your best to win? Playing small stakes and freeroll games should be taken as seriously as if you had a lot of money on the line, and here is why: if you can't beat "bad" players, how can you hope to compete at bigger stakes against the "real" poker players?

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Many poker players, both serious and casual, will play $0.50 Sit N Go games, or one and two cent ring games, or sign up for freerolls that have fields numbering in the thousands, and then play as if it didn't matter. They play too loose, they allow themselves to be distracted, and then they complain when they lose. These same players also can't figure out what happens when they sit down to play with "real" players who know all the ins and outs of the game, and they still lose.

The problem is they are operating under a misconception.

These players think that the freerolls and small stakes games are less important, and they think this for two reasons. First, the stakes are not that big, so what does it matter if they win or lose? Second, they figure (and are mostly correct) that the games is going to be rife with fish, with donkeys, and with new players who don't know proper strategy. As a result it becomes a bit of a lottery, and the complaining player curses the crazy plays and bad strategy of the rest of the table.

However they are missing out on a key piece of logic. If you can't beat bad players, how can you expect to beat good players?

Don't use the bad play of others as an excuse. Yes, it can result in bad beats and suck outs and frustrating sessions, however, good play stands out over time. If you consistently lose in these situations, look to your own game rather than that of your opponent's.

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