A poker freeroll is a poker game that does not require you to pay anything to play. You can read a more detailed explanation in Freeroll Wiki article.
PokerDIY runs a couple of freeroll poker leagues as a "thank you" to our active members. Basically, we contact online poker rooms (so this is not a live poker thing!) and sponsor a freeroll which means means that you don't have to pay or buy-in to play in it. We put up the $50 or $100 prize fee and you could win that with no risk on your side.
There may be more freeroll poker leagues on PokerDIY (after all, you could run a freeroll league if you wanted to!) but the official PokerDIY ones are always marked as "PokerDIY-XYZ Freeroll League".
For example, here is the PokerDIY-FullTilt Freeroll League and the PokerDIY -Nasty Duck Freeroll Poker League. As a PokerDIY member you are welcome to join these leagues and play in any freerolls that we schedule.
Click here to see a complete list of PokerDIY freeroll leagues.
Each freeroll poker league is tied to a particular online poker room (so we are talking about online poker, not live poker here!). For example, the FullTilt Poker League freerolls are played at FullTilt.com.
You need to have an account and be able to play at each poker room (for example, Nordica Poker Room does not allow Australian accounts). This is not a PokerDIY issue, this is the Poker Room requirements - we can't help you here I'm afraid. We'll also provide a download link in the freeroll event in case you don't have that Poker Room installed. It helps us if you download the poker room game through us, but if you don't or if you are already a member you can still play!
The PokerDIY freeroll event (here is an example of a recent one) will give you more information about how to find the poker freeroll on the site. Some poker rooms, like FullTilt, have thousands of poker games running every hour so you will need to refine your search to Freerolls and match the time specified. If you can't find the game in the poker room lobby then let us know by writing on the event Wall - this is the quickest way to get a response.
We usually sponsor a $50 prize but sometimes we throw a $100 into the pot. The poker room (e.g. FullTilt or CD Poker) will determine the payout structure depending on how many people play in that particular freeroll.
For example, if we have a $50 prize pot and 20 players then we may pay out 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. This information is not controlled by us - you can read it in the poker room lobby for that freeroll.
Also, please bear in mind that the online poker room (e.g. FullTilt) control the payout of the prize and it is nothing to do with us. We cannot get involved in disputes and their word is final. It's up to the poker room how they pay their prize but it normally gets paid directly into your online poker room account. No money exchanges hands on PokerDIY.
We do assign points to the top ten places. This depends on the poker league and will appear under the league scoring details. You can see your poker league scoreboard standing under the poker league section or from your profile. We only record the top ten as this is a manual process and needs to be entered by hand. This is also why we ask you to fill in your poker room nick in your profile so we can match up profiles to winners.
At some point there may be more prizes for the end of year league winners - stay tuned for more details...
Yes, we want you to play! Our freerolls are open to all PokerDIY members - all you have to do is join the poker league and follow the requirements set in each freeroll event (here is an example of a recent one). Bear in mind that you also need to have an account on the poker room where the freeroll will be held. For example, on the last FullTilt freeroll you would need to have had a FullTilt Poker Account. We'll explain in the event how to get one if you don't have one yet.
Sometimes they vary but it's usually something like this:
- Make sure your PokerDIY profile has your poker room nickname filled in (you only have to do this once)
- Make at least 2 forum posts in the week before the freeroll (we want to reward our active members and not freeloaders)
- RSVP to the freeroll events as they are scheduled
and that's it! If you have done all 3 of those you are elgible to play and will get the password (have a read of the other FAQs if you are not sure exactly how the password is revealed).
Note: Some poker rooms require that you must have a Real Money account with them. This is nothing to do with PokerDIY but basically you can register with many poker rooms and play for free (ie. you do not have to deposit a cent to play). You may have to make a deposit at the poker room in some cases if they require a Real Money Account. We don't like these requirements but it's not something we can do much about.
The password for a PokerDIY freeroll is always revealed in the same place through our Automated Password System (APS).
For example, log in and have a look at this freeroll event. On the right-hand side, above the banner ads, you should see something that looks like this:
This is the APS module. It may look different on your screen depending on what you have done so far and of course it will have your name at the top. It tells you very clearly what you need to do to get the password and play in the offered freeroll. So, according to this screenshot, you have FAILED 4 of 4 requirements so far. As you complete each step the APS will reflect your progress. So, to complete the required steps in this example:
Step 1) Join this poker league
This means that you are not yet a member of the poker league on PokerDIY. To become a member, simply click on the link in the APS labeled "Join this poker league". This will take you directly to the poker league in question so that you can join it (see the other FAQ on how exactly to join a poker league if you are stuck).
Once you have joined you may need to wait a minute for the APS to reflect your new status. This information is heavily cached to speed things up. Do a Ctrl-F5 (refresh browser) in a minute if it is still saying you are not a member, but you have joined.
Step 2) Have you RSVPed?
Have a read of the other Freeroll FAQ questions if you do not understand how to RSVP to an event on PokerDIY. This is telling you that you have not yet confirmed if you wish to play or not. Once you have RSVP'd you will need to refresh the freeroll event page (F5 on your keyboard) so that the APS is updated if it does not already show this. Note that you have to RSVP "Yes" if you wish to play.
Step 3) Have you made x amount of forum posts in the y days before the game?
So quite often we require that you make some meaning full forum posts in the week before the game. We want to reward active members, not freeloaders. You can read the other FAQ questions to see more about the forum posts. If it says you have not made enough then you will need to get chatting on the poker forums!
Step 4) Is your profile filled in with the required online poker room nickname?
Have a read of the other Freeroll FAQ questions if you do not understand how to update your profile with your online poker room nickname. Once it is filled in you can refresh the event page and the APS will tell you what needs to be done next if anything is outstanding.
You will know when you have passed all the requirements when the text at the top of the APS changes to "PASSED..." like in the screenshot below:
Note: If it is time for the password to be released you should now see it below the "PASSED..." text as in the screenshot above. This brings as to WHEN is the password revealed.
The timing of the password release depends on the poker room we are playing at for that particular freeroll. For example, on CDPoker there are syndicates of forums who steal the password and IM it to each other so that instead of a cosy 25 PokerDIY members we get 150 strange players who have never even heard of PokerDIY. For this reason we have to release the password 2 minutes before the event starts. You can read more about this particular problem here and how the APS combats it.
On other poker rooms password theft is not too bad so we can release the password 10 minutes -> 40 minutes or more before the freeroll is due to start. The APS will specify exactly when the pw is due to be released (in number of minutes). In the example above it is 10 minutes before the game so the password is now public. If it were 2 days before (there is nothing to stop you qualifying for entry early, in fact, we encourage it!) then this would say "PASSED" - the password will be revealed in x minutes.
Note: This is an automated system. We don't email the password, post it on the walls/forum (unless something goes wrong) or send it by private message and it works very well for us. Once you have seen it in action you'll appreciate it for the next game. If your APS does not say "PASSED" then please check what step is missing and fix it before letting us know on the event Wall.
Joining any poker league on PokerDIY is easy (that is, if it is a public, joinable league, which all our PokerDIY Freeroll Leagues are!).
Make sure you are logged in an view the poker league you wish to join. We'll use the PokerDIY-FullTilt Freeroll Poker League as an example.
On the top right of the poker league detail page there is a big green button labeled "Join League". Click on this and you are now a member of this league. This means you can write on the league wall and your points can be recorded for the poker league.
RSVP stands for " Répondez s'il vous plaît" . In other words it is to register or join an event. Once you have logged in you need to be viewing the event detail page (the one with all the info about the event).
For an example of an event detail page, have a look at a recent FullTilt freeroll event.
At the bottom you will notice a list of the event guests. These are people who have replied/RSVP'd to the event. On the bottom right-hand side you should see a green button that says "RSVP". It is above the event Wall and banner ads but below the list of guests. You also have to be logged in to see it.
To RSVP to an event, click on this button and select your answer from the following screen (Yes/No etc). You are also able to post a public comment (everyone who can see the event will see this) as well as a private comment that goes to the event host only. You can change your RSVP status later if you change your mind.
Once you have RSVPd' to an event you will be able to write on the event Wall which is near the bottom of the page.
Note: In order to qualify for the APS RSVP step you have to reply "Yes" to the event.
Have a look at the upcoming poker events and click on an event to see it's detail page and RSVP.
Make sure you are logged in and go to our Poker Forums. Click on a forum and post a new topic or join some of the existing conversations.
Feel free to discuss all things to do with poker on the forums. The idea is that we reward our active PokerDIY members with these freerolls, all we ask from you is that you share and contribute some thoughts on the forum. It could be as simple as introducing yourself or letting us know where you play poker normally or which poker room you like.
If you have any problems or questions about PokerDIY the forums are the best place to ask it! If you are new to the forums you may want to read this "Getting Started on the Forums" post.
Please note that in the case of the PokerDIY Freeroll requirements there are some things to bear in mind:
- Writing meaningless posts (ie. in order to meet the required post count will not get you the freeroll password. It may get you banned from PokerDIY though.
- Examples of posts we don't like - "Pass Please", "Hello", "Nice site" etc. Make an effort please...
- The "Introduce Yourself" forum is moderated so your post may take a little while to appear. Please be patient. All other forums are a free-for-all and your post will appear instantly.
- Writing on any Walls (profile/event/leagues etc.) does not count as a forum post
The "Introduce Yourself" forum is moderated, which means that when you post it goes into a queue for approval. One of the PokerDIY admins will get an email and approve it at some point. Only approved posts count towards your APS posting limit, so you may want to post in a non-moderated forum.
Why is it moderated?
We find that we have freeloaders in the past who just joined and wrote stuff like "Hi" or answered other intro posts with "Welcome" which was adds no value to the conversation and was done purely to get the freeroll password. Remember that meaningless posts will be deleted, so you're probably better off joining a conversation on another forum after introducing yourself.
The APS is also heavily cached (this is a technical term meaning that the data is stored in memory so that our website can handle many people asking for the same info at the same time). The cache needs to be refreshed which can take up to 2 minutes, so be patient please.
You can edit your PokerDIY profile in a couple of different ways. You can either click on your name on the top right (you have to be logged in) or you can go to your profile page and click on the big button on the top right labeled "Edit my Profile".
If you are logged in right now you can click here to edit your profile too.
On the Profile Edit page you will see your log on details and your email preferences. To edit your profile details you need to now click on "Edit my Profile" at the top right again. This will take you to things like your bio, address and all your online poker room nicknames. Find the corresponding online poker room nick and enter it here. Click on "Update" to save your profile.
You can read our PokerDIY Profile FAQ here.
No, please do not do this as it means we will have to stop sponsoring freerolls. We do this to reward our active users, so if you give it out to other people then it ruins the game for our members and for us.
If you see someone or a site/forum revealing PokerDIY passwords please report it to us so we can keep offering you freerolls.
Out of interest, here is an interesting blog post about Stealing Poker Freeroll Passwords and how it affects sites like us.
The easiest way to be notified of our upcoming PokerDIY poker freerolls is to change your Email Preferences under "Edit My Profile".
Log in and click here to edit your Email Preferences (near the bottom of the page - check the box labeled "Receive PokerDIY Freeroll League Invites".
You can also bookmark our Upcoming Poker Events RSS feed. If you do not know what RSS is check out the explanation on the Advanced FAQ. Note that this feed shows all upcoming public poker events scheduled on PokerDIY, not just our freerolls, but this is handy too.
The easiest way is to download the PokerDIY Toolbar. You can read more about/install it at the bottom of this page. Our toolbar will alert you of new freerolls, poker games and activity on PokerDIY.
Alternatively, just keep an eye on our Upcoming Poker Events page.
The poker room will announce the top ten places and award prize money into your online poker room account. We manually upload the top ten places into PokerDIY and assign them points.
You can see the latest league scoreboard on the league detail page. For example, here is the PokerDIY-FullTilt Freeroll League Scoreboard. This is the result of a couple of freeroll events this year so far. Sometimes our admins are rather busy so please be patient if you do not see your name on the scoreboard immediately after the game. Also, if your online poker room nickname is not correctly entered into your profile we have no way of knowing which PokerDIY account matches which online poker room player so your score will not be recorded in this case.
You can see all the poker leagues that you are a member of from your profile page once you are logged in. You can also see your poker leagues from the Poker Leagues page ("My Poker Leagues"), including the leagues that you host. You must be logged on to see this. Click on any poker league to see the latest scoreboard or individual game results.
Yes, of course! This is what PokerDIY was designed for. We happen to sponsor a couple of freerolls but there is nothing stopping you running your own poker freerolls. You can schedule any poker event from the Upcoming Poker Events page. Click on "Schedule an Event " (top, right of the page - you must be logged in) and enter in the event details.
You could even make money out of freerolls - here's how:
- Register an affiliate account with an online poker room
- Tell your afilliate manager that you want to sponsor a prize (could be some poker chips, some cash or whatever, this is up to you).
- Schedule the event on PokerDIY (Upcoming Poker Events)
- Email some poker players who like freerolls
PokerDIY members will see your freeroll and hopefully sign-up on the poker room you have affiilated with. Your affiliate deal should then start generating money for you (obviously it has to outweigh the cost of the prize to be worth it for you).