How many times have you all heard someone say this, or perhaps you have said it yourself, after a particularly bad call, or constant all in.
But here is my take on this, and think about it. You should play your A game every time you play. Whether its for free or a 1000 dollar buy in. When you play freerolls and you play loose and hands you wouldnt normally just because its a freeroll, you begin to develop bad habits, you may not think so, but especially in todays Online poker world where you really dont see the chips stacked in front of you, and its so easy to click a call or raise button.
For example, say you go all in the first few hands in a freeroll, and you hit with bad hands, now you have yourself a chip stack and you keep playing bad hands, some hit and some lose, and in this particular match it worked for you, congratulations you beat the odds... But now the next time you play, maybe this time its a buy in, you start to see some of the hands that hit for you in the freeroll, and you think "wow, i won in that freeroll" and you play a bad hand that someone raised. This time you lose and the odds held for the better hand...
Im not saying everyone is this way, but especially when you play alot of low buy ins or freerolls, you should always play your A game, because even in the short term if playing bad or marginal hands hit for you, in the long run they will cost you, especially at higher stakes. There is a difference between blind luck and skill, and even if you get beat out by all in players or freeroll donks, dont let that stop you from playing your A game, in the long run, its better for you and worse for them.
Just my thoughts.
Good hunting on the felt.
