Poker is a game of skill, and every decision you make is approximately 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, that is positive Expected Value or – EV, that is negative Expected Value. Poker isn’t gambling and the following explains why.
Most gambling games have a negative EV for you, and a confident EV (5.49% in cases like this) for the casino. In the short run you could win, but in the long term, in the event that you played typical gambling games 1000 times, the casino would always end up winning by about 5.49%. As you can plainly see these kind of gambling games are in favor of the house. Poker pits you against other players and not the house. In a complete ring game (9 players) or shorthanded game (6 players), the goal is to make the very 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 before 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. If you played and raised “all in” with this hand against a player who played and called every all in, you’ll have an enormous advantage as you will 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 would do is play say the very best 20% of hands because against someone who plays maybe 70% of their hands, you again, will undoubtedly be making a +EV decision each time you play with him. It’s likely your starting hands will have a whole lot higher probability to win. This 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 be the simplest way to enhance 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 end, a good player who always makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. That is why poker isn’t gambling but a 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 once. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on it and the web and are even listed on the currency markets. They let you play poker online for free or real cash. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often supply the best customer service. Maintaining your password secure can be your responsibility and if you do that, your money will be safe. Online poker sites have no incentive to cheat when dealing hands since they desire to be extremely fair so you continue to play, which allows them to earn their income in the form of “rake.” It is a really small percent of the pot (usually significantly less than 1%). In poker, you are playing against the other players, and not the house.
Obviously if the poker site seems shady, you have never heard of it, they don’t 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 internet 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, a lot 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 once you sign up and require some form of id verification to activate your account. Some individuals may such as 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 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 very small portion (around 10%) of your deposit instantly, but that is rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and then after you accumulate a certain amount of player points, they will provide you with the full $600. poker88 asia is to ensure depositing players are also active. With online poker sites such as for example Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved rapidly.
Online sites will publish poker bonus codes which must be entered upon account creation. After that, the amount you earn depends on 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 also have a good percent of wins, they can 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’s only a click away, is what draws so many people to online poker.