For those new to free online poker, a poker “freeroll” is a free poker tournament that doesn’t have an entry fee. But pays the winner/s in real money – or “real-money value” prize, like a tournament-entry ticket or some poker merchandise. Free online poker may come in all shapes and sizes (cash games, SnGs, and so on). But freerolls typically offer prize pools of a few hundred dollars.
At any size they’re by far the best way to build your bankroll from scratch and improve your game without risking your own money. Check our list below for our picks of the best sites to play free poker online . And read our full site reviews.
Click "Play Now" or "Free Download" to create a new account and enter a freeroll in minutes!
ABOUT FREE POKER ONLINE
Freerolls really are free. Since the early days of online poker, poker sites have offered free poker games to entice new players to create accounts. One of the best parts of the intense competition to bring in players was the invention of "freerolls," or free poker tournaments. A freeroll is a poker tournament with no cost to enter but with a real-money or real-value prize.
Playing free online poker in either "cash" game or tournament form is the best way to sharpen your poker strategy skills without having to wager any money. There are many different kinds of free poker online and finding the best fit can be tricky for new poker players. Below you'll find a guide that should answer some of your most burning free poker online questions!
What are Poker Freerolls?
A freeroll is a poker tournament with no entry fee but a real money (or real money value) prize pool. The freeroll player is not on the hook for any of their own money and is essentially playing free online poker to win real money. These chips mean something.
How are Freerolls Different from Free Poker Games or Apps?
If you've played on any kind of "free play" poker app on your phone or a social poker game like Zynga Poker, that's a "free play" site. There's no real money to be won. All of the chips in play are just token markers to keep score and bragging rights. You can win more free chips, or buy more even, but they're not worth any "real" money per se.
Free online poker is played on a real-money online poker site where most players are playing for real money. For this specific type of free online poker there are no "buy-ins" required. You can play both ring games and tournaments entirely for free. Which is cool.
But even cooler is the payout in a free online poker tournament is usually of real money value - either in the form of actual cash or in a ticket to play in a tournament with a real-money buy-in. Most poker sites will give a new player who opens a new account a few freeroll entries to help boost their bankrolls when they get started. They'll also typically offer free tournament tickets as well.
Many professional players got their start playing in free poker games online. They won a few bucks, reinvested those in more tournaments (or continued playing more freerolls and won again), and soon enough were on their way to a steady poker income. Real money poker sites also have downloadable mobile apps where you can access both their free and real-money games. IF you want to read more about the best mobile poker apps, check our page here:
What Kind of Free Poker Games Can I Play?
in the case of major poker sites like 888poker and PokerStars, a LOT. Free online poker is a great entry point for beginner players so the sites run many of their best game variations in play-money variations so you can experience just how thrilling online poker can be.
On 888poker, for example, you can play free:
- Cash Games
- Sit & Gos
- Multi-table Tournaments
- Bounty tournaments
- Snap Poker (Fast-Fold Poker)
- Jackpot Sit & Gos
- Free versions of their most popular Sunday events and more
On PokerStars you can access even more free online poker games and variations alongside a massive free tournament schedule and a signature Sunday event, the Sunday Billion. You can also try events like:
- Win the Button
- Bubble Rush
- Knockout Poker
- Short Deck Holdem
- Heads Up
- 3-Handed
- Zoom Poker (Fast Fold Poker)
- Spin & Gos (Jackpot multiplier turbo SnGs)
The competition to rise up the free play leaderboards is also great fun (and quite challenging) with very enticing prizes on offer for the most successful free-chip players.
How Do I Qualify for Poker Freerolls?
Usually just by signing up for a new account at any online poker room. Most poker sites also offer regular daily, weekly and monthly freerolls for new players or players who have made a deposit recently. Prizes vary. It's also possible to qualify by generating a certain amount of frequent player points on a site you already play on. Some sites even offer freerolls for contest winners or becoming one of its Facebook fans/liking a social media post.
How Do I Find Free Poker Tournaments?
To enter or register for free poker tournaments you can navigate to the "Tournaments" tab in the poker site lobby. You can find this tab on desktop or on mobile. You can then pick ‘Freeroll’ from the ‘Buy-in’ filter and you'll see all the free tournaments scheduled for that day.
Do I Need a Poker Freeroll Password?
At some poker sites you'll need a password to enter a free poker tournament. Typically these are exclusive freerolls for players with a certain amount of player points or for players who have signed up for an account via an affiliate site like PokerListings. As long as you've qualified with the required points or created your account via the affiliate the freeroll password will be emailed to your poker account. If a freeroll is open to all players the password will be released in the lobby prior to the start of the freeroll or registration will just be opened.
Do I Need Another Account to Play for Real Money?
If you do eventually want to make the leap from free online poker into playing real money online poker, you don't need to create another account. When you created your new account you will have been awarded several free tickets to real-money tournaments and a cash bonus you can clear by playing any real-money games or tournaments. You can then either:
- Continue playing free online poker tournaments and build up a real-money bankroll through any prizes you win
- Make a minimal deposit ($10 is usually the smallest possible deposit) and play real-money games and tournaments to collect your free bonus
Free Poker Online - No Download
If you're not interested in downloading a full poker software client to your desktop computer you can always play free online poker in "no-download" mode. All the major free poker sites offer in-browser play (ie via your web browser like Chrome, Firefox, Safari etc) with no download required.
You can play for real money (if you have an account set up) or you can play for free (play money). if you're just getting started with online poker and you'd like to try out free poker online with no risk, you might want to check out Appeak Poker. It's entirely free to play, you can pick between a few simple tournament types and you can work your way up the leaderboard for fun and prizes! Free chips are awarded daily along with a 5,000-chip start-up bonus!
Learn more about free no download online poker here:
What are the Best Free Poker Sites?
At the top of the page you'll find a ranking of some of the best free poker sites around. Because PokerListings is one of the biggest poker guides in the world we can also offer exclusive bonuses and freerolls that you can't get through other sites.
Do your research and check each site on your own but we think you'll find the bonuses and freerolls we offer through our poker room partners are the best you can find online. Check our poker room reviews for more details on each site and for dates and times for the exclusive freerolls. See our current poker bonus codes right here!
More on Poker Games & Sites:
- Best UK Poker Sites
- Best Poker Apps
- Online Poker on Mac
- Online Poker in Canada
- Poker Games
- Real Money Poker
- Playing in the US
Free Poker Online FAQ
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Is Free Poker Online Actually Free?
Yes, although there can be some minor restrictions. Sometimes poker freerolls are limited to players who recently signed up for an Yes, although there can be some minor restrictions. Sometimes poker freerolls are limited to players who recently signed up for an online poker site while others are restricted to players who played a certain number of real-money poker hands in the previous month.
Of course there are some free poker games where you can qualify for just being from a certain region or even being a Facebook fan of a famous poker player.
In fact if you're on the lookout you'll find opportunities to play freerolls or free poker tournaments quite frequently. All you need is a bit of due diligence and to pay attention to social media accounts for popular poker sites or poker TV shows like PokerStars and 888poker or EPT Live.
In reality there is free cash to be won and free poker online for almost every type of poker player so be sure you have a look around and see where the best deals are. Most players who sign up at a poker room via PokerListings are also typically eligible for exclusive weekly and monthly freerolls just for PokerListings.com players.
These usually range in value from $500 to up to $25,000 and PokerListings has paid out over $8 million in freerolls since 2005. while others are restricted to players who played a certain number of real-money poker hands in the previous month.
Of course there are some free poker games where you can qualify for just being from a certain region or even being a Facebook fan of a famous poker player.
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Why Do Poker Sites Offer Free Poker?
Online poker sites usually offer freerolls as a way to attract new players. It's also a way for rooms to build loyalty with existing players and better establish their brand. In some ways it's similar to have cell phone or cable companies offer the first month free. If you're not a tournament player, free "Play Money" ring games are also available at every major poker site for new players to practice on or claim bragging rights on the play-chip leaderboard. Offering free "play money" cash games is also a great way to help players get comfortable with the rules of the game and the software so they'll be more comfortable when (or if) they switch over to real money poker.
For regular players who already play cash games on the site, freeroll tournaments are a nice way for a poker site to reward their loyalty with a free prize pool from time to time. -
How Do I Sign Up to Play Free Online Poker?
The process is super simple.
- Pick any of our top poker sites above and download the free software via the link. You can also download the mobile app to your phone or tablet instead.
- Fill in the minimal amount of information required to create a new account Select ‘Play Money’ to see what game options you have
- Use your automatically allocated free chips and pick from free cash games, free tournaments, free Sit & Go’s and more and play!
Once you have your account created you can play the free online poker games on demand as you like. With a site like PokerStars, for example, you'll receive 35,000 in free chips to start and be awarded more every 4 hours.
You'll likely never run out of chips but if you do you won't have to wait long to be awarded more. You can also head to the online shop at the poker site and buy an amount if you like. -
What Can I Expect to Win Playing Free Poker Online?
The prizes in free poker online can vary a great deal. Sometimes there are small stakes freerolls that only award a few bucks while there have been several freerolls in the history of online poker that have awarded $1 million in total cash from the prize pool.
PokerStars, in fact had four $1 million freerolls in one year once! You can expect standard free poker prize pools to be in the $500-$2,000 range.
Other prizes we've seen offered in free online poker games or tournaments include:
-Free trips to Las Vegas
-Free buy-ins to World Series of Poker tournaments
-Free trips to the Caribbean or poker cruises
Opportunities to meet and play with famous poker pros
Do you know a forum where you can list or a freeroll, I found a new casino site but traffic is slow as I don’t think their is much advertising as of yet. NL\ Omaha Poker and dice are the games so far. Just want to take advantage of the 2 daily freerolls lol
Hey Jason,
Sure there are lots of poker forums out there discussing hands and what not – but it’s unlikely that reputable poker sites will advertise freerolls there.
A better option would be to register at one of the legit sites on this page – and get an exclusive bonus which can also be free cash and tournament tickets (like 888, for example)
Other than a welcome offer, these sites may also offer freerolls from time to time and you could get alerted through their client, email or social channels.
Just choose one and click ‘Play Here’ to register and claim your bonus.
I’m from MN. Is there a poker sight where I can host friends for free tourneys? While in quarantine, we would still like to play. Thanks!
Just want to play some poker for fun but have a chance to win real money
Hi Jon,
You can play poker for play money or real money.
If you’re just starting out and want to play with the option to win, we suggest lower buy-ins to lessen the stakes.
You can select any of our suggested poker sites on this page if you’re stuck 🙂
Poker stars pulled me of a table i was leading on saying i missed two large blinds. What is that about? I dont believe a missed anything. Confused. Happenned two time! Boyh when i had a large stack over the table.
What’s the biggest freeroll running right now and on which site? Thanks in advance.
I like the old tropical poker freerolls