Poker is really a game of skill, and every decision you make is approximately 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, that is negative Expected Value. Poker is not gambling and the following explains why.
Most gambling games have a negative EV for you, and a positive EV (5.49% in cases like this) for the casino. In the short run you could win, but in the long run, if you played typical gambling games 1000 times, the casino would always find yourself winning by about 5.49%. As you can plainly see these types 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 goal is to make the 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 understands is a wonderful hand preflop. This hand has a high possiblity to win against all the 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’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 would not be the smartest idea. What you will do is play say the very best 20% of hands because against somebody 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 that your starting hands will have a whole lot higher probability to win. This is just scraping the surface, and there’s an EV mounted on every decision and every situation. Many online poker sites provide starting hand charts for beginners to use, which would be the 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. Over time, a good player who makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. This is 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 currency markets. eyangpoker 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. Maintaining 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 since they desire to be extremely fair so you continue steadily to play, which allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” This is 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 on a regular basis – you wouldn’t be depositing your cash there!!! With that said, almost all of the major poker sites are very 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, plenty 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 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 provide you with a really small portion (around 10%) of your deposit instantly, but that’s rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and after you accumulate a certain amount of player points, they will provide you with the full $600. This is to make sure depositing players may also be active. With online poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved very quickly.
Online sites will publish poker bonus codes which should be entered upon account creation. After that, 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 an excellent percent of wins, they can make up to 5K a month. This is of course if you treat playing just like a job and dedicate a long time every day to playing. Ultimately job freedom and the lure of easy money that’s just a click away, is what draws a lot of people to online poker.