Poker is a game of skill, and every decision you make is about maximizing your Expected Value or EV for short. The term “EV” will undoubtedly be used throughout this article and will be seen in two ways. A player can have +EV, which is positive Expected Value or – EV, that is negative Expected Value. Poker isn’t gambling and the next explains why.

Most gambling games have a negative EV for you, and a confident EV (5.49% in this instance) 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 types of gambling games come in favor of the home. Poker pits you against other players and not 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 understands is an effective hand preflop. This hand has a high possiblity to win against all other 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 an enormous advantage as you will be a favorite every time, making it a +EV decision. That 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 a person who plays maybe 70% of these hands, you again, will undoubtedly be making a +EV decision each 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 internet poker sites provide starting hand charts for beginners 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. In the end, a good player who always makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. This is why poker isn’t gambling but a casino 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 one time. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on it and the web and are even listed on the currency markets. They enable you to play poker online for free or real cash. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often provide 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, that allows them to earn their income in the form of “rake.” This is usually 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 have never heard of it, they don’t really 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, a lot 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 plenty 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 after you sign up and require some form of id verification to activate your account. Some individuals may like this extra security, and may 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 get another $600!” Do they really double your deposit amount after depositing?

That depends on the site. Some sites offer you a really 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 ensure depositing players may also be active. With internet poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved rapidly.

Websites on the internet will publish poker bonus codes which should be entered upon account creation. After that, the amount you earn depends on the time you may spend playing and the stakes you play at. When 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 a month. This is of course if you treat playing such as a job and dedicate a long time each day to playing. Ultimately job freedom and the lure of easy money that is only a click away, is what draws a lot of people to online poker.