Poker is really 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 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 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 case) for the casino. In the short run you can win, but in the long run, 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 house. Poker pits you against other players rather than the house. In a full 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 prior to the flop came (preflop), which everyone knows is a wonderful hand preflop. This hand includes a high possiblity to win against all other hands preflop. If you played and raised “all in” with this hand against a new player who played and called every all in, you’ll have an enormous 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 most notable 20% of hands because against somebody who plays maybe 70% of these hands, you again, will be making a +EV decision 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 top, and there is an EV mounted on every decision and every situation. Many internet poker sites provide starting hand charts for beginners to use, which would function as simplest way to enhance your EV.
In addition, there is always variance and in the short term 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 find yourself a winner. Because of this , 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 internet poker?
Absolutely, poker88 have over 50,000 people playing at one time. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on it and the web and so are even listed on the stock market. They enable you to play poker online for free or real money. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often supply the best customer service. Maintaining your password secure is your responsibility and if you do that, your money will be safe. Online poker sites have no incentive to cheat when dealing hands given that they desire to be extremely fair so you continue steadily to play, that allows them to earn their income in the form of “rake.” It is a really 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 net and there aren’t members playing regularly – you wouldn’t be depositing your cash there!!! With that said, a lot of the major poker sites have become safe and reputable.
What are the best online poker rooms?
There are three major sites for playing internet 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 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 type of id verification to activate your account. Some people may like 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 website. Some sites offer 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 a certain amount of player points, they will give you the full $600. This is to ensure depositing players are also 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 must be entered upon account creation. From then on, the amount you earn depends on the time you spend playing and the stakes you play at. When a player reaches 400NL limit, which means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and also have an excellent percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K a month. This is of course in the event that you treat playing such as a job and dedicate a long time every day to playing. Ultimately job freedom and the lure of easy money that is only a click away, is what draws so many people to online poker.