Poker is really 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 will be seen in two ways. hatipoker can have +EV, which is positive Expected Value or – EV, which is negative Expected Value. Poker isn’t gambling and the following 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 find yourself winning by about 5.49%. As you can see these kind of gambling games come in favor of the home. Poker pits you against other players and not 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 prior to the flop came (preflop), which everyone understands is a good 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 hand against a player who played and called every all in, you would have a huge advantage as you will be a favorite every time, making it a +EV decision. That is an exaggerated example and playing one hand wouldn’t normally be the smartest idea. What you would do is play say the very best 20% of hands because against a person who plays maybe 70% of these hands, you again, will 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. That is just scraping the surface, and there’s an EV mounted on every decision and every situation. Many online poker sites provide starting hand charts for beginners to use, which would be the simplest way to improve your EV.

In addition, there’s 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 run, a good player who makes +EV decisions will always end up a winner. This is exactly why poker isn’t 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 one time. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on it and the web and are even listed on the currency markets. They enable you to play poker online for free or real money. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often supply the best customer service. Maintaining your password secure is your responsibility and if you do that, your money will undoubtedly be safe. Online poker sites have no incentive to cheat when dealing hands since they desire to be extremely fair so you continue to play, which allows them to earn their income in the form of “rake.” This 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 home.

Obviously if the poker site seems shady, you haven’t heard of it, they don’t really advertise on TV or the net 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 have become safe and reputable.

What are the best online poker rooms?
You can find three major sites for playing internet poker. Full Tilt Poker, Pokerstars and Party Poker have lots of traffic, play money tables, plenty of freeroll tournaments and have excellent 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 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 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 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 a certain amount of player points, they will provide you with the full $600. This is to make sure depositing players may also be active. With online poker sites such as for example Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved very quickly.

Online sites will publish poker bonus codes which should be entered upon account creation. From then on, the amount you earn depends upon the time you may spend playing and the stakes you play at. When a player reaches 400NL limit, this 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 such as a job and dedicate several hours every day to playing. Ultimately job freedom and the lure of easy money that is only a click away, is what draws a lot of people to online poker.