Poker is really a game of skill, and every decision you make is about 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 following explains why.
Most gambling games have a negative 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 run, in the event that 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 come 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 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 prior to the flop came (preflop), which everyone understands is a superb hand preflop. This hand includes 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 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 would not be the smartest idea. What hatipoker online will do is play say the most notable 20% of hands because against somebody who plays maybe 70% of these hands, you again, will undoubtedly be making a +EV decision each 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’s an EV attached to every decision and every situation. Many internet 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 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 always makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. This is why poker is not gambling but a 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 one time. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on it and the web and so are even listed on the currency markets. They permit you to play poker online for free or real cash. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often provide the best customer service. Keeping your password secure can be your responsibility and if you do that, your money will be safe. Online poker sites have no incentive to cheat when dealing hands given that they desire 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 very small percent of the pot (usually less than 1%). In poker, you are 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 frequently – you wouldn’t be depositing your cash there!!! With that said, a lot of the major poker sites are very 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, a lot 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 start. 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 may certainly go that route. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars do not require this. Overall, all three sites are incredibly safe and popular.
Many sites state “Deposit and get another $600!” Do they really double your deposit amount after depositing?
That depends on the website. Some sites give you 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 make sure 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 spend playing and the stakes you play at. When a player reaches 400NL limit, which means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and have a good percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K per month. This is of course if you treat playing such as 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 so many people to online poker.