A negative freeroll is used in poker to refer to a situation which mostly occurs in a pot-limit or no-limit game. This is when a player considers an all-in bet so that the player who is supposed to act first, checks in a game that s/he is forced to call the final bet of an opponent. It happens because of the odds of the pot and the strength or quality of their hand. In this case, if the player’s opponent holds a stronger hand, it means the opponent is most likely to bet while the player may call but still lose all their money.
However, if that opponent holds a weaker hand than the one the player has, betting remains the only sure means of getting the opponent’s money placed in the pot. Because a check on this will also allow the opponent the make a check in turn. Negative freeroll is a bit common in low stakes amateur poker games, but in the high stakes games, allowing negative freeroll to play on the final round of bets is a bad mistake.
Back to the poker glossary N
Read more poker terms
