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Your first Free Play hand

Free Play is the zero-risk way to try Stacked. No USDC, no on-chain activity — just poker with play-money chips.

Before you start​

You need one thing: a connected wallet. Any thirdweb-supported wallet works, or the embedded wallet Stacked creates for you. See Connect a wallet if you haven't done that yet.

You don't need USDC. Free Play has no real money involved.

Steps​

  1. Open the lobby. You'll see a list of active tables, with each tagged either Free Play or real-money. Look for a Free Play table at stakes you're comfortable with.
  2. Click sit. A prompt asks how many chips you want to start with. Pick any amount — Free Play chips have no real value.
  3. Wait for the Host. Every table on Stacked requires Host approval, including Free Play. You'll see your pending status at the table view; most Hosts respond quickly.
  4. Play. When the Host approves, you're seated. The next hand deals you in.

What's the same as real-money​

The poker engine is identical: same shuffler, same rules, same UI, same action timer. Anything you learn in Free Play transfers directly to a real-money table.

What's different​

  • No deposit. No USDC moves, no transaction to sign, no gas to pay.
  • No on-chain activity. Free Play tables don't deploy a contract or trigger settlements. Chips are tracked off-chain and forgotten when you leave.
  • No rake, no Host earnings. Play-money tables don't generate anything for anyone.
  • No persistence. Each session starts fresh — there's no Free Play balance to track between visits.

When you're ready for real-money​

If you want to try a real-money table after Free Play, you'll need USDC on Base. See Get USDC on Base and then Your first real-money hand.

What's next​