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 will be seen in two ways. A player can have +EV, that is positive Expected Value or – EV, which is negative Expected Value. Poker is not gambling and the following explains why.
Most gambling games have a negative EV for you, and a positive EV (5.49% in this case) for the casino. In the short run you can 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 kinds 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 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 before the flop came (preflop), which everyone knows is a good hand preflop. This hand has a high possiblity to win against all the 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 a huge advantage as you will be a favorite every time, making it a +EV decision. This is an exaggerated example and playing one hand wouldn’t normally be the smartest idea. What you would do is play say the very best 20% of hands because against somebody who plays maybe 70% of these hands, you again, will be making a +EV decision each time you play with him. It’s likely your starting hands will have a whole lot higher probability to win. This is just scraping the surface, and there’s 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 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 another and keep playing. Over time, a good player who always makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. This is the reason poker isn’t gambling but a game of skill and understanding 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 so are even listed on the stock market. They let you play poker online for free or real cash. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often supply the best customer service. Keeping 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 since they wish to be extremely fair so you continue steadily to play, which allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” This can be a really small percent of the pot (usually less than 1%). In poker, you are playing contrary to 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 web and there aren’t members playing on a regular basis – 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 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, a lot of freeroll tournaments and have very good customer support. If you are a beginner you need to play at Full Tilt Poker or Pokerstars when you begin. 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 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 obtain another $600!” Do they really double your deposit amount after depositing?
poker88 depends on the site. Some sites provide you with a very small portion (around 10%) of your deposit instantly, but that’s rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and then after you accumulate some player points, they will give you the full $600. This is to make sure depositing players are also active. With online poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved rapidly.
Websites on the internet 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, this means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and also have an excellent percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K a 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 a lot of people to online poker.