Poker is really a game of skill, and every decision you make is about maximizing your Expected Value or EV for short. poker88 “EV” will undoubtedly be used throughout this article and you will be seen in two ways. A player can have +EV, that is positive Expected Value or – EV, which is negative Expected Value. Poker is not gambling and the following explains why.

Most gambling games have a poor EV for you, and a positive 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 see these kind 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 target 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 in the event that you were dealt KK prior to the flop came (preflop), which everyone understands is a great hand preflop. This hand includes a high possiblity to win against all other hands preflop. If 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 their hands, you again, will be making a +EV decision each and 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 top, and there’s 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’s always variance and in the short term weaker players could easily get lucky, but that’s also what attracts them another and keep playing. In the end, a good player who makes +EV decisions will always find yourself a winner. That is why 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 one time. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on the TV and the web and so are even listed on the stock market. 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 can be your responsibility and if you do that, your money will be safe. Online poker sites haven’t any 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 by means of “rake.” This can be a very small percent of the pot (usually less than 1%). In poker, you are playing contrary to the other players, and not the house.

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 regularly – you wouldn’t be depositing your cash there!!! With that said, the majority of the major poker sites are very safe and reputable.

What are the best internet poker rooms?
You can find 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 are 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 like 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 well known.

Many sites state “Deposit and get another $600!” Do they really double your deposit amount after depositing?

That depends on the site. Some sites give you a really small portion (around 10%) of one’s deposit instantly, but that is 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 make sure depositing players may also be active. With online 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. After that, the amount you earn depends on 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 have an excellent percent of wins, they can make up to 5K a month. This is of course if you treat playing like a job and dedicate several hours each day to playing. Ultimately job freedom and the lure of easy money that is only a click away, is what draws so many people to online poker.