Poker is really a game of skill, and every decision you make is approximately maximizing your Expected Value or EV for short. The term “EV” will undoubtedly be used throughout this article and you 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 confident 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 come in favor of the house. Poker pits you against other players and not the house. In a full ring game (9 players) or shorthanded game (6 players), the target 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 an excellent hand preflop. This hand includes a high chance 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 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 top, and there’s an EV mounted on every decision and every situation. poker88 provide starting hand charts for novices 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 to come back and keep playing. In the long run, a good player who always makes +EV decisions will always find yourself a winner. This is the 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 the TV and the web and are even listed on the currency markets. They allow you to play poker online free of charge or real cash. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often provide the best customer service. Keeping your password secure can be your responsibility and if you do that, your money will undoubtedly 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, that allows them to earn their income in the form of “rake.” This is the 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 really advertise on TV or the net and there aren’t members playing on a regular basis – you wouldn’t be depositing your money there!!! With that said, almost all of the major poker sites have become safe and reputable.
What are the best internet poker rooms?
You can find three major sites for playing internet poker. Full Tilt Poker, Pokerstars and Party Poker have plenty 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 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 such as this extra security, and may certainly go that route. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars usually 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 a certain amount of player points, they will give you the full $600. This is to make sure depositing players may also be active. With internet poker sites such as 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. From then on, the amount you earn depends upon 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 a good percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K a month. This is of course if you treat playing like 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.