What is Playmoney?

Every online poker room today have tables where you can play poker with Playmoney.

Playmoney is fake money. Monopoly money if you will, worth absolutely nothing in real cash.
It's chips you are given by the poker room for free, and you can only use them at Playmoney tables to practice playing poker. This way you can play for fun without any money in your poker account.

The great thing about Playmoney is, that you can start playing poker without risking any money at all. For absolute beginners with no or very little knowledge of poker – online or in real life – Playmoney offers an excellent and risk-free opportunity to get to know the various poker games.

The disadvantage of Playmoney is, that when playing for chips worth nothing at all, the game is played very differently compared to when there's actually something at stake.
This is because Playmoney players couldn't care less if they win or lose. You can always get more Playmoney for free, so nobody fears losing.

This makes Playmoney poker a game of chance instead of a game of skill. Players simply tend to just throw all their money in the pot with any hand – and then hope for the best.
Why wouldn't they, since they can just pick up more Playmoney for free if they lose?
Frankly this has very little to do with real poker, and playing with Playmoney is of very little value – at least if you're hoping to improve your poker skills.
In fact sitting at Playmoney tables will most likely make you a worse poker player as you are bound to start playing much more recklessly than you should.
It definitely has its charm to just go all-in with absolute garbage and hope for the best. Occasionally you'll get lucky and pick up a big pot, but that's the problem really – it's all just luck at the Playmoney tables.
If your goal is to get better at the game of poker and sharpen your skills, you should stay clear of the Playmoney tables.

It's much better to deposit a small amount into your poker account and then pick one of the cheapest tables available with the smallest stakes. Full Tilt Poker for instance offers tables where the blinds – the cost of playing – are as low as 10 cents.
At a table like this you'll learn more about playing poker in just half an hour than you would, playing at Playmoney tables all your life.


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