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 be used throughout this article and 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 isn’t gambling and the next 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 can 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 poker 88 can plainly see these types of gambling games are in favor of the home. Poker pits you against other players rather than the house. In a full ring game (9 players) or shorthanded game (6 players), the goal 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 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 other 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 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 would not be the smartest idea. What you will do is play say the most notable 20% of hands because against a person 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 your starting hands will have a lot higher probability to win. This is just scraping the surface, 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 for a while weaker players could easily 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. 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 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 permit you to 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 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 given that they want to be extremely fair so you continue steadily to play, that allows them to earn their income in the form of “rake.” This is a really small percent of the pot (usually 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 have never heard of it, they don’t advertise on TV or the net 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 have become safe and reputable.
What are the best online poker rooms?
There are three major sites for playing internet poker. Full Tilt Poker, Pokerstars and Party Poker have plenty of traffic, play money tables, plenty of freeroll tournaments and have very good customer support. If you’re a beginner you should 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 may 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?
That depends on the site. Some sites provide you with a really small portion (around 10%) of your deposit instantly, but that is rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and after you accumulate some player points, they will provide you with 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 very quickly.
Websites on the internet will publish poker bonus codes which should be entered upon account creation. From then on, the amount you earn depends on the time you may spend playing and the stakes you play at. Whenever a player reaches 400NL limit, this means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and also have an excellent 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 several hours each day to playing. Ultimately job freedom and the lure of easy money that’s just a click away, is what draws a lot of people to online poker.