Poker is really a game of skill, and every decision you make is about maximizing your Expected Value or EV for short. The word “EV” will undoubtedly 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 is not 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 can 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 house. Poker pits you against other players rather than the house. In a complete ring game (9 players) or shorthanded game (6 players), the goal 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 great hand preflop. This hand has a high possiblity to win against all other hands preflop. If 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’ll be a favorite every time, making 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 someone 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 is 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 another and keep playing. In the long run, a good player who makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. Because of this , poker is not gambling but a game of skill and finding out how to exploit your opponent’s mistakes.
Is it 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 the TV and the web and so are even listed on the stock market. They let you play poker online free of charge or real money. 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 that, your money will undoubtedly be safe. Online poker sites have no incentive to cheat when dealing hands given that they want to be extremely fair so you continue steadily to play, that allows them to earn their income in the form of “rake.” This can be a really small percent of the pot (usually 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 really advertise on TV or the net and there aren’t members playing frequently – you wouldn’t be depositing your cash there!!! With that said, the majority of the major poker sites are very safe and reputable.
What are the best internet poker rooms?
You can find three major sites for playing internet poker. poker88 asia online , Pokerstars and Party Poker have plenty of traffic, play money tables, plenty of freeroll tournaments and have very good customer support. If you’re 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 people may such as this extra security, and can certainly go that route. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars usually 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 one’s 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. This is to ensure depositing players may also be 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. Whenever a player reaches 400NL limit, this means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and also have a good percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K per month. This is of course if you treat playing just like 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 so many people to online poker.