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 be used throughout this article and 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 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 can win, but in the long run, if you played typical gambling games 1000 times, the casino would always find yourself winning by about 5.49%. As you can see these kinds 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 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 an excellent hand preflop. This hand has a high chance to win against all other hands preflop. If you played and raised “all in” with this particular hand against a player who played and called every all in, you’ll have a huge 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 would do is play say the very best 20% of hands because against someone who plays maybe 70% of these hands, you again, will undoubtedly 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 top, and there’s an EV mounted on every decision and every situation. Many internet poker sites provide starting hand charts for beginners 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 another and keep playing. Over time, a good player who makes +EV decisions will always find yourself a winner. For this reason poker isn’t gambling but a casino 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 are even listed on the currency markets. They enable you to play poker online free of charge or real cash. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often provide the best customer service. Maintaining your password secure is your responsibility and if you do this, your money will undoubtedly be safe. Online poker sites have no incentive to cheat when dealing hands given that they wish to be extremely fair so you continue to play, which allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” This is the very small percent of the pot (usually less than 1%). In poker, you’re 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 advertise on TV or the web and there aren’t members playing on a regular basis – 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 poker99 ?
You can find three major sites for playing online 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 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 individuals may like this extra security, and can 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 offer you a very 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 give you the full $600. This is to ensure depositing players may also be active. With online poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved rapidly.
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 may spend playing and the stakes you play at. When a player reaches 400NL limit, which means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and have an excellent percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K per month. This is of course if you treat playing 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 a lot of people to online poker.