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, that is negative Expected Value. Poker isn’t gambling and the following explains why.
Most gambling games have a poor EV for you, and a confident EV (5.49% in this instance) for the casino. In the short run you can win, but in the long term, 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 kinds of gambling games come in favor of the home. Poker pits you against other players rather than the house. In a complete 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 in the event that you were dealt KK before the flop came (preflop), which everyone knows is an effective hand preflop. This hand includes a high possiblity to win against all other hands preflop. In the event that you played and raised “all in” with this hand against a player who played and called every all in, you’ll have a huge advantage as you’ll be a favorite every time, making 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 most notable 20% of hands because against someone who plays maybe 70% of these hands, you again, will undoubtedly be making a +EV decision each and every time you play with him. It’s likely your starting hands will have a whole lot higher probability to win. This is just scraping the top, 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 for a while weaker players could easily get lucky, but that’s also what attracts them to come back and keep playing. In the long term, 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 understanding how to exploit your opponent’s mistakes.
Is it safe to play internet 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 are even listed on the stock market. They let you play poker online for free or real cash. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often provide the best customer service. Keeping your password secure is your responsibility and if you do this, your money will be safe. Online poker sites haven’t any incentive to cheat when dealing hands given that they want to be extremely fair so you continue steadily to play, that allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” This can be a really small percent of the pot (usually less than 1%). In poker, you’re playing against the other players, and not the home.
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 frequently – you wouldn’t be depositing your cash there!!! With that said, most of the major poker sites are very 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 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 begin. 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 like this extra security, and will certainly go that route. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars do not require this. hatipoker , 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 is rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and after you accumulate some player points, they will provide you with 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 rapidly.
Online sites will publish poker bonus codes which should be entered upon account creation. From then on, the amount you earn depends upon the time you may spend playing and the stakes you play at. When a player reaches 400NL limit, this means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and also have an excellent percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K per month. This is of course if you treat playing just 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 so many people to online poker.