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 will be seen in two ways. A player can have +EV, which is positive Expected Value or – EV, which is negative Expected Value. Poker is not gambling and the next 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 could win, but in the long run, in the event that you played typical gambling games 1000 times, the casino would always find yourself winning by about 5.49%. As you can see these kind of gambling games come in favor of the home. 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 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 understands is a great hand preflop. This hand includes a high possiblity to win against all the hands preflop. In the event that you played and raised “all in” with this particular hand against a new player who played and called every all in, you would 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 will do is play say the top 20% of hands because against a person who plays maybe 70% of these 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 lot higher probability to win. That is just scraping the surface, and there is an EV mounted on every decision and every situation. Many online poker sites provide starting hand charts for novices to use, which would function as simplest way to improve your EV.
In addition, there is always variance and in the short term weaker players might get lucky, but that’s also what attracts them to come back and keep playing. In the long term, a good player who makes +EV decisions will always find yourself a winner. This is exactly why 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, panadolqq have over 50,000 people playing at once. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on the TV and the web and so are even listed on the currency markets. They permit you to play poker online free of charge or real money. 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 given that they wish to be extremely fair so you continue to play, that allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” This is the really small percent of the pot (usually significantly less than 1%). In poker, you are 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 web and there aren’t members playing regularly – you wouldn’t be depositing your money there!!! With that said, the majority of the major poker sites have become 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 lots of traffic, play money tables, plenty of freeroll tournaments and have very good customer support. If you are a beginner you should 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 people may like this extra security, and can certainly go that route. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars do not require this. Overall, 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 website. Some sites give you a really small portion (around 10%) of one’s deposit instantly, but that is rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and after you accumulate a certain amount of player points, they will give you the full $600. This is to make sure depositing players are also active. With internet poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved very quickly.
Online sites 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. 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 a long time 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.