Poker is a game of skill, and every decision you make is about maximizing your Expected Value or EV for short. The word “EV” will undoubtedly be used throughout this article and will be seen in two ways. A new player can have +EV, which is positive Expected Value or – EV, which is negative Expected Value. Poker isn’t gambling and the following explains why.
Most gambling games have a negative EV for you, and a confident EV (5.49% in cases like this) for the casino. In the short run you can win, but in the long term, if you played typical gambling games 1000 times, the casino would always end up winning by about 5.49%. As you can plainly see these kinds of gambling games are in favor of the home. Poker pits you against other players rather than the house. In a full ring game (9 players) or shorthanded game (6 players), the target is to make the very best EV decisions against the many other players playing worse (making -EV decisions) than you.
A simple example would be if you were dealt KK prior to the flop came (preflop), which everyone knows is a wonderful hand preflop. This hand includes a high possiblity to win against all the hands preflop. If you played and raised “all in” with this particular 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. This is an exaggerated example and playing one hand wouldn’t normally be the smartest idea. What you would do is play say the very best 20% of hands because against a person 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 lot higher probability to win. This is just scraping the top, and there is an EV attached to every decision and every situation. Many internet poker sites provide starting hand charts for beginners to use, which would be the simplest way to enhance your EV.
In addition, there is always variance and for a while weaker players might get lucky, but that’s also what attracts them another and keep playing. In the long term, a good player who always makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. This is exactly why 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 stock market. They let you play poker online for free or real money. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often provide the best customer service. Maintaining your password secure can be your responsibility and if you do that, your money will be safe. Online poker sites haven’t any incentive to cheat when dealing hands given that they desire to be extremely fair so you continue to play, which allows them to earn their income in the form of “rake.” This is the very small percent of the pot (usually significantly less than 1%). In poker, you’re playing against the other players, and not the house.
Obviously if the poker site seems shady, you have never heard of it, they don’t advertise on TV or the web and there aren’t members playing regularly – you wouldn’t be depositing your cash there!!! With that said, almost all of the major poker sites have become safe and reputable.
What are the best internet poker rooms?
You can find 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 very good customer support. If you’re a beginner you should play at Full Tilt Poker or Pokerstars when you start. Other sites like Party Poker call you up once you sign up and require some form of id verification to activate your account. Some individuals may like this extra security, and will certainly go that route. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars do not require this. Overall, all three sites are incredibly safe and well known.
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’s 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 may also be active. With poker88 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 upon the time you spend playing and the stakes you play at. Whenever a player reaches 400NL limit, which means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and also have a good percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K a month. This is of course if you treat playing such as 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.