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 be used throughout this article and you will be seen in two ways. A 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 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 run, if 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 are in favor of the house. 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 knows is a good hand preflop. This hand includes a high chance to win against all other hands preflop. If you played and raised “all in” with this particular hand against a player who played and called every all in, you’ll have an enormous advantage as you’ll be a favorite every time, making it a +EV decision. That is an exaggerated example and playing one hand wouldn’t normally be the smartest idea. What you would do is play say the top 20% of hands because against somebody who plays maybe 70% of their hands, you again, will 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. That 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 enhance 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 run, a good player who makes +EV decisions will always find yourself a winner. Because of this , poker isn’t gambling but a game of skill and understanding how to exploit your opponent’s mistakes.
Is it 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 are even listed on the stock market. 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 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, 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 are playing contrary to the other players, and not the home.
Obviously if the poker site seems shady, you haven’t 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, a lot 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 lots 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 type of id verification to activate your account. Some people may such as this extra security, and can certainly go that route. IDN POKER APK 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 give you a very 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 online poker sites such as for example Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved very quickly.
Websites on the internet will publish poker bonus codes which must be entered upon account creation. After that, the amount you earn depends upon the time you may spend playing and the stakes you play at. Whenever a player reaches 400NL limit, this means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and have a good percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K per month. This is of course if you treat playing like a job and dedicate several hours every day to playing. Ultimately job freedom and the lure of easy money that’s only a click away, is what draws so many people to online poker.
mike