Poker is a game of skill, and every decision you make is about maximizing your Expected Value or EV for short. The term “EV” will undoubtedly be used throughout this article and you will be seen in two ways. A player can have +EV, which is positive Expected Value or – EV, which is negative Expected Value. Poker is not gambling and the following explains why.
Most gambling games have a poor EV for you, and a positive EV (5.49% in this instance) for the casino. In the short run you could win, but in the long run, in the event that you played typical gambling games 1000 times, the casino would always find yourself winning by about 5.49%. As you can see these kinds of gambling games come in favor of the house. Poker pits you against other players and not the house. In a complete ring game (9 players) or shorthanded game (6 players), the goal is to make the best EV decisions against the a great many other players playing worse (making -EV decisions) than you.
A simple example would be if you were dealt KK before the flop came (preflop), which everyone understands is a great hand preflop. This hand has a high chance to win against all other hands preflop. In the event that you played and raised “all in” with this hand against a new player who played and called every all in, you would have a huge advantage as you’ll be a favorite every time, rendering it a +EV decision. That is an exaggerated example and playing one hand would not be the smartest idea. What you will do is play say the top 20% of hands because against somebody who plays maybe 70% of their hands, you again, will undoubtedly be making a +EV decision each and every time you play with him. It’s likely that your starting hands will have a whole lot higher probability to win. That is just scraping the surface, and there’s an EV attached to every decision and every situation. Many online poker sites provide starting hand charts for beginners to use, which would function as simplest way to improve your EV.
In addition, there’s always variance and in the short term weaker players might get lucky, but that’s also what attracts them another and keep playing. In the long term, a good player who makes +EV decisions will always find yourself a winner. This is the reason poker isn’t gambling but a casino game of skill and finding out how to exploit your opponent’s mistakes.
Is it safe to play online poker?
Absolutely, some sites have over 50,000 people playing at one time. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on the TV and the web and so are even listed on the currency markets. They allow you to play poker online free of charge or real cash. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often provide the best customer service. Maintaining your password secure is your responsibility and if you do this, your money will undoubtedly be safe. Online poker sites have no incentive to cheat when dealing hands since they wish to be extremely fair so you continue steadily to play, which allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” This can be a very small percent of the pot (usually less than 1%). In poker, you are playing against the other players, and not the house.
Obviously if the poker site seems shady, you haven’t heard of it, they don’t really advertise on TV or the web and there aren’t members playing on a regular basis – you wouldn’t be depositing your cash there!!! With that said, the majority of the major poker sites have become safe and reputable.
What are the best internet poker rooms?
There are three major sites for playing online poker. Full Tilt Poker, Pokerstars and Party Poker have plenty of traffic, play money tables, a lot of freeroll tournaments and have excellent customer support. If you’re a beginner you need to play at Full Tilt Poker or Pokerstars when you start. Other sites like Party Poker call you up after you sign up and require some form of id verification to activate your account. Some people may such as this extra security, and may certainly go that route. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars do not require this. Overall, all three sites are incredibly safe and popular.
Many sites state “Deposit and obtain another $600!” Do they really double your deposit amount after depositing?
That depends on the site. Some sites give you a really small portion (around 10%) of your deposit instantly, but that is rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and then after you accumulate some player points, they will give you the full $600. This is to ensure depositing players are also active. With internet poker sites such as for example Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved very quickly.
Websites on the internet will publish poker bonus codes which should be entered upon account creation. From then on, the amount you earn depends on the time you may spend playing and the stakes you play at. Whenever a player reaches 400NL limit, which means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and have a good percent of wins, they can make up to 5K a month. poker88 is of course in the event that you treat playing like a job and dedicate several hours every day to playing. Ultimately job freedom and the lure of easy money that is just a click away, is what draws a lot of people to online poker.