Is my first late cancellation free?

Usually yes. Organizers have a “Warning on the first time” setting that is on by default, and while it is on your first late cancellation costs you nothing: you get a warning instead of a fee, and the fee starts from the second one.

The same setting covers a second case. You are not fined by an organizer you have never actually finished a game with, so your very first booking with someone new cannot end in a charge even if you have to drop out late.

An organizer can turn this off, and then the cancellation ladder applies from the very first time. The fee tiers themselves are always shown on the game screen before you join. Whether your own first cancellation is forgiven is not written there: you find out at the moment you leave, when the app tells you that nothing is being charged this time and that the next one will cost you.

A forgiven cancellation is not free of consequences everywhere. It still counts towards your show-up rate, so repeatedly bailing late lowers your reliability even when no money changes hands.