NoPokerFace.net

(Contribution by TJ)
Well, the chips are absolutely free, for starters, and nobody can beat the price. These are a few positive aspects of free chips.

Help you to adapt to a new site

Each time you try out a new poker site, you should try it with free chips first. Regardless of how many poker sites you've played previously, and no matter how good a player you claim to be, you have to play for free to get a good feel for the interface of the new site. Many poker sites have visible differences and the differences appear in the user interaction, general look and speed of play. Play with the free chips to get accustomed with the new dynamics.

When you are practicing for the upcoming hard currency play, you need to be certain to play the hand the same way you usually do at the money table. Then, you can be sure to fully try all the controls and have all things work the way you want with no surprises.

Learning the new game

If you tired of playing Hold 'Em and want to try out Omaha, free chips are a great way to do it. You will get the full action and the full game dynamic with none of the financial risks associated with the general game rule. You will also find it easier to obtain tips and advices from more experienced players at the free chip table. (Go easy on the amount of credit you give for the advice, you do sometime get what you pay for.)

Adjusting to online playing speed

If you haven't tried online poker before, but you are familiar with a poker game you want to play, the greatest benefit of playing with free chips is getting accustomed with the pace of online poker. You play your hands about twice as fast in online game as you do in the real life poker, and you unquestionably want to get accustomed with that level of speed before you start playing for real with hard currency.

Free chips share the same problem with that familiar hall monitor in the elementary school: Free chips have no true authority, because nobody takes them seriously enough. You may expect a 'fixed limit' $5 / $10 hard cash Hold 'Em poker game to collect an average pot size of approximately $100. In a free chip games, 'fixed limit' $5 / $10 game, the pot size frequently swells to $400. People raise, stay in, and play more garbage hands.

This type of poker game sounds dopey, sure, but fake chips lure you to make those types of calls. Too much eating candy eventually decays your teeth; too much fake chip play eventually ruins your motivation and playing skill. Your playing style gets loose; your assessment gets buggy; and then you're curious why you can't win consistently again when you move over to hard cash games.

Simply put, if your purpose is to win hard cash games, you should use those free chips only until you fully understand the site mechanics and the game dynamics. After you are accustomed with the online poker dynamics, move to small-limit games to play with real cash. Moving up only if you get comfortable with the game is a great thing you can do to maintain your financial condition, especially if you are a novice.