Poker is a game of skill, and every decision you make is about maximizing your Expected Value or EV for short. The word “EV” will undoubtedly 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. poker88 online isn’t gambling and the next explains why.
Most gambling games have a negative EV for you, and a confident EV (5.49% in this case) for the casino. In the short run you could win, but in the long term, if you played typical gambling games 1000 times, the casino would always find yourself winning by about 5.49%. As you can see these kind of gambling games are in favor of the house. 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 knows is an effective hand preflop. This hand has a high chance to win against all other hands preflop. If you played and raised “all in” with this hand against a new 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. This is an exaggerated example and playing one hand would not be the smartest idea. What you would 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 that your starting hands will have a whole lot higher probability to win. This is just scraping the top, and there’s an EV mounted on every decision and every situation. Many internet poker sites provide starting hand charts for novices to use, which would function as 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. In the long term, a good player who always makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. This is exactly why poker is not gambling but a game of skill and understanding 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 currency markets. They allow 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 to play, which allows them to earn their income in the form of “rake.” This can be a really small percent of the pot (usually less than 1%). In poker, you’re playing against the other players, and not the house.
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 on a regular basis – you wouldn’t be depositing your cash there!!! With that said, almost all of the major poker sites are very safe and reputable.
What are the best online poker rooms?
You can find three major sites for playing online poker. Full Tilt Poker, Pokerstars and Party Poker have plenty of traffic, play money tables, plenty 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 once you sign up and require some type of id verification to activate your account. Some people may like this extra security, and can certainly go that route. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars usually do not require this. Overall, 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 give you a really small portion (around 10%) of your deposit instantly, but that’s rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and then after you accumulate a certain amount of player points, they will provide you with 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 very quickly.
Online sites will publish poker bonus codes which must be entered upon account creation. From then on, the amount you earn depends upon 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 also have an excellent percent of wins, they can make up to 5K a month. This is of course if you treat playing such as a job and dedicate several hours every 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.