Poker is really a game of skill, and every decision you make is approximately maximizing your Expected Value or EV for short. The term “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, which is negative Expected Value. Poker is not 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 can win, but in the long term, if you played typical gambling games 1000 times, the casino would always end up winning by about 5.49%. As you can see these kinds of gambling games are in favor of the house. Poker pits you against other players and not 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 understands is an excellent hand preflop. This hand includes a high possiblity to win against all the hands preflop. If you played and raised “all in” with this particular hand against a player who played and called every all in, you’ll have a huge 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 somebody who plays maybe 70% of these hands, you again, will undoubtedly 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 surface, and there’s an EV attached to 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 for a while weaker players could easily get lucky, but that’s also what attracts them to come back and keep playing. In the end, a good player who makes +EV decisions will always find yourself a winner. This is exactly why poker is not 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 the TV and the web and are even listed on the stock market. They enable you to play poker online for free or real money. 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 this, your money will 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, which allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” That is a very small percent of the pot (usually significantly 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 haven’t heard of it, they don’t advertise on TV or the net and there aren’t members playing regularly – you wouldn’t be depositing your money there!!! With that said, the majority of the major poker sites have become safe and reputable.
What are the best internet poker rooms?
You can find 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 begin. Other sites like Party Poker call you up after you sign up and require some type of id verification to activate your account. Some individuals may like this extra security, and can certainly go that route. HATIPOKER Situs poker online 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 provide you with a very small portion (around 10%) of your deposit instantly, but that is rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and then after you accumulate some player points, they will provide you with 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.
Online sites will publish poker bonus codes which must be entered upon account creation. From then on, the amount you earn depends on 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 have a good percent of wins, they can make up to 5K per 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 just a click away, is what draws so many people to online poker.