I have been away from home for some time and have not been able to attend my weekly or bi-weekly poker cash rings at the local pub. On my extended business trip, I filled that void with some of the free chip poker games (not sure if allowed to mention, Zynga, PP, and the like) and noticed that people (obviously) bet much differently when there is no "real" money on the table.
I have become accustomed to, and proficent in, the strategies involved in the Zynga-esque games and can almost always finish in the top two places on their tournament tables.
Problems arise when I return to the pub and play with people for cash. I can't help to shake the "bad" habits that have made me successful in play-chip poker, and I'm paying for the mistakes in "real" money games.
So the question is this: Is it detrimental to your live or "professional" gameplay to play free-chip poker games? If not, how do you keep strategies for the two games separate?