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 new player can have +EV, which is positive Expected Value or – EV, that is negative Expected Value. Poker is not gambling and the following explains why.
poker88 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, if you played typical gambling games 1000 times, the casino would always find yourself winning by about 5.49%. As you can plainly see these kind of gambling games are in favor of the home. 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 very best EV decisions against the a great 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 knows is a good hand preflop. This hand includes a high chance to win against all other hands preflop. If you played and raised “all in” with this hand against a 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 would not be the smartest idea. What you will do is play say the very best 20% of hands because against a person who plays maybe 70% of their hands, you again, will be making a +EV decision each 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 attached to every decision and every situation. Many online poker sites provide starting hand charts for beginners to use, which would be the simplest way to improve your EV.
In addition, there is always variance and in the short term weaker players could easily 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 find yourself a winner. For this reason poker is not gambling but a casino 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 one time. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on the TV and the web and so are even listed on the currency markets. They allow 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 this, your money will be safe. Online poker sites haven’t any incentive to cheat when dealing hands since they wish to be extremely fair so you continue to play, which allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” That is a very small percent of the pot (usually less than 1%). In poker, you’re playing against the other players, and not the home.
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 regularly – you wouldn’t be depositing your cash there!!! With that said, almost all of the major poker sites are very safe and reputable.
What are the best internet poker rooms?
There are three major sites for playing internet poker. Full Tilt Poker, Pokerstars and Party Poker have lots of traffic, play money tables, a lot 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 form of id verification to activate your account. Some people may like this extra security, and will 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 website. Some sites provide you with a very small portion (around 10%) of one’s deposit instantly, but that’s rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and then after you accumulate a certain amount of player points, they will give you the full $600. This is to ensure depositing players are also 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 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 can make up to 5K a month. This is of course in the event that 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’s only a click away, is what draws so many people to online poker.