Poker is really 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 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 poor 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, 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 and not the house. In a complete ring game (9 players) or shorthanded game (6 players), the target is to make the very best EV decisions against the many other players playing worse (making -EV decisions) than you.
A simple example would be in the event that you were dealt KK prior to the flop came (preflop), which everyone knows is a great 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 a huge advantage as you’ll 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 will do is play say the top 20% of hands because against somebody who plays maybe 70% of these hands, you again, will be making a +EV decision every time you play with him. It’s likely that your starting hands will have a whole 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 enhance your EV.
In addition, there’s 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 long term, a good player who makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. This is exactly why poker isn’t gambling but a casino game of skill and understanding 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 it and the web and so are even listed on the currency markets. They enable you to play poker online free of charge or real cash. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often supply the best customer service. Keeping your password secure can be your responsibility and if you do that, your money will undoubtedly be safe. Online poker sites have no incentive to cheat when dealing hands since they want to be extremely fair so you continue to play, which 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’re playing against 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, most 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 excellent 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 type of id verification to activate your account. Some people may like 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 well known.
Many sites state “Deposit and get another $600!” Do they really double your deposit amount after depositing?
That depends on the site. poker88 give you 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 make sure depositing players are also active. With internet poker sites such as 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 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 an excellent percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K a month. This is of course in the event that you treat playing just like a job and dedicate a long time every day to playing. Ultimately job freedom and the lure of easy money that is just a click away, is what draws a lot of people to online poker.