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 new player can have +EV, that 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 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 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 kinds of gambling games come in favor of the house. Poker pits you against other players rather than the house. In a full ring game (9 players) or shorthanded game (6 players), the target 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 if you were dealt KK before the flop came (preflop), which everyone understands is a great hand preflop. This hand has a high possiblity 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 would have an enormous 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 will do is play say the top 20% of hands because against somebody 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 your starting hands will have a whole lot higher probability to win. That 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 enhance your EV.
In addition, there is always variance and for a while weaker players might 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 find yourself a winner. This is the reason poker is not gambling but a casino 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 once. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on the TV and the web and are even listed on the stock market. They let you play poker online for free or real money. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often provide the best customer service. Keeping dewapoker secure is your responsibility and if you do that, your money will be safe. Online poker sites have no incentive to cheat when dealing hands since they want to be extremely fair so you continue to play, which allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” This can be a very small percent of the pot (usually significantly less than 1%). In poker, you are playing against 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 web and there aren’t members playing frequently – you wouldn’t be depositing your money there!!! With that said, a lot of the major poker sites are very safe and reputable.
What are the best internet 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 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 form of id verification to activate your account. Some individuals may such as this extra security, and will 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 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 after you accumulate some player points, they will give you the full $600. This is to ensure depositing players are also active. With internet 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. 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, which means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and also have a good percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K a month. This is of course in the event that 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’s just a click away, is what draws so many people to online poker.