Poker is a game of skill, and every decision you make is approximately maximizing your Expected Value or EV for short. The term “EV” will be used throughout this article and you will be seen in two ways. A player can have +EV, that 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 positive EV (5.49% in this instance) for the casino. In the short run you can win, but in the long run, in the event that you played typical gambling games 1000 times, the casino would always end up winning by about 5.49%. As you can see these types 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 wonderful hand preflop. This hand has a high possiblity to win against all the hands preflop. If you played and raised “all in” with this particular hand against a 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 will do is play say the very best 20% of hands because against someone who plays maybe 70% of their hands, you again, will be making a +EV decision each time you play with him. It’s likely that your starting hands will have a lot higher probability to win. That is just scraping the surface, and there’s an EV attached to every decision and every situation. poker88 provide starting hand charts for beginners to use, which would be the simplest way to improve your EV.
In addition, there is always variance and for a while weaker players could easily get lucky, but that’s also what attracts them another and keep playing. In the long run, a good player who always makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. For this reason poker isn’t gambling but a game of skill and finding out how to exploit your opponent’s mistakes.
Could it be safe to play online poker?
Absolutely, some sites have over 50,000 people playing at once. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on it and the web and so are even listed on the currency markets. They enable you to play poker online free of charge or real cash. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often supply the best customer service. Keeping 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 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 is a very small percent of the pot (usually significantly less than 1%). In poker, you’re playing contrary to the other players, and not the home.
Obviously if the poker site seems shady, you have never heard of it, they don’t really advertise on TV or the web and there aren’t members playing regularly – you wouldn’t be depositing your money there!!! With that said, a lot of the major poker sites have become safe and reputable.
What are the best online poker rooms?
You can find three major sites for playing online poker. Full Tilt Poker, Pokerstars and Party Poker have lots of traffic, play money tables, plenty of freeroll tournaments and have excellent customer support. If you are a beginner you should play at Full Tilt Poker or Pokerstars when you begin. Other sites like Party Poker call you up once you sign up and require some type of id verification to activate your account. Some individuals may like this extra security, and can certainly go that route. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars usually do not require this. Overall, all three sites are incredibly safe and well known.
Many sites state “Deposit and get another $600!” Do they really double your deposit amount after depositing?
That depends on the website. Some sites give you a very small portion (around 10%) of one’s deposit instantly, but that’s rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and then after you accumulate some player points, they will provide you with the full $600. This is to ensure depositing players may also be active. With online poker sites such as for example Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved rapidly.
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 also have an excellent percent of wins, they can make up to 5K a month. This is of course in the event that you treat playing like a job and dedicate a long time each 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.