Poker is a game of skill, and every decision you make is about maximizing your Expected Value or EV for short. The term “EV” will undoubtedly 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, which is negative Expected Value. Poker is not gambling and the following explains why.
Most gambling games have a poor EV for you, and a confident EV (5.49% in this instance) for the casino. In the short run you could win, but in the long run, 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 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 goal is to make the best EV decisions against the 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 understands is a great hand preflop. This hand includes a high chance to win against all the 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’ll have an enormous advantage as you’ll be a favorite every time, rendering 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 top 20% of hands because against someone who plays maybe 70% of their 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 top, and there is an EV mounted on every decision and every situation. Many online poker sites provide starting hand charts for novices 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 makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. For this reason poker is not gambling but a game of skill and understanding how to exploit your opponent’s mistakes.
Could it be 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 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 provide the best customer service. Maintaining your password secure is your responsibility and if you do this, your money will undoubtedly be safe. Online poker sites haven’t any incentive to cheat when dealing hands since they want to be extremely fair so you continue steadily to play, that allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” It is a very small percent of the pot (usually significantly less than 1%). In poker, you’re 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 web and there aren’t members playing regularly – you wouldn’t be depositing your money there!!! With that said, a lot 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 plenty of traffic, play money tables, a lot of freeroll tournaments and have excellent 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 type of id verification to activate your account. Some individuals may like this extra security, and may certainly go that route. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars do not require this. judi online , all three sites are incredibly safe and popular.
Many sites state “Deposit and obtain 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 your deposit instantly, but that is 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 ensure 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 on the time you spend playing and the stakes you play at. Whenever a player reaches 400NL limit, which 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 if you treat playing like a job and dedicate several hours each day to playing. Ultimately job freedom and the lure of easy money that’s only a click away, is what draws a lot of people to online poker.
