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 be used throughout this article and 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 this case) 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 see these kind of gambling games come 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 target is to make the 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 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. In the event that you played and raised “all in” with this particular hand against a player who played and called every all in, you would have an enormous advantage as you will be a favorite every time, rendering 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 a person who plays maybe 70% of their 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 lot higher probability to win. This is just scraping the top, 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 for a while weaker players might get lucky, but that’s also what attracts them to come back and keep playing. Over time, a good player who always makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. This is exactly why poker isn’t gambling but a casino game of skill and finding out how to exploit your opponent’s mistakes.
Could it be safe to play internet 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 so are even listed on the currency markets. They allow you to 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 is your responsibility and if you do this, your money will undoubtedly 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, that allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” poker88 asia is a really small percent of the pot (usually significantly less than 1%). In poker, you’re playing against the other players, and not the house.
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 on a regular basis – you wouldn’t be depositing your cash there!!! With that said, most of the major poker sites are very 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 start. 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 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 get another $600!” Do they really double your deposit amount after depositing?
That depends on the site. Some sites offer you a very 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 give you the full $600. This is to make sure depositing players are also active. With internet poker sites such as for example Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved very quickly.
Online sites will publish poker bonus codes which must be entered upon account creation. After that, 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 have a good percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K a month. This is of course if you treat playing such as a job and dedicate several hours 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.