Most poker articles, when teaching rookies the basics of the game, begin with concepts such as starting hands, game and table selection, and the particularities of the flop turn and river, together with the strategic approaches they require. Certainly, these elements are all extremely important, the only problem is there.s something much more important than all of them together, something that will explain why everything else works the way it does.

Before you do anything at an online poker table, do yourself a huge favor and learn a thing or two about the nature of the adventure you.re about to embark on. First thing.s first though: hit the Texas Holdem tables, and do not venture over to Omaha Hi Lo or Stud. You.ll learn why later.

Thus, Texas Holdem is the game we are going to take a closer look at, in this article. Texas Holdem is a game which features quite a big short-term variance, and the luck factor is a much bigger issue in it than it is in Omaha or Stud. That means, as a rookie, you.ll stand a fair fighting chance against experienced player, simply on account of the fact that you can get lucky too. When several weak players (such as yourself) go up against sharks, a phenomenon called .schooling. occurs, where their collective odds get the better of the shark.s expected value, even though it is better than each and every one of the Fish.s odds taken individually. That is not going to help you much, but it is useful to know in order to understand what really goes on at the table.

The expression .expected value. in the previous sentence is the bearer of some very special significance. Expected value, also known as EV or mathematical expectation, is the core concept everything revolves around in online poker. If you hold some kind of edge in a bet, that is you don.t start with 50-50 odds and the same amount of money bet by both parties involved, you have positive expectation. Even if the odds involved in the bet itself are 50-50, but your opponent posts more money than you do, you.ll have the EV+ on your side, because you.ll both win every second bet . statistically speaking . only you.ll be winning more money than your opponent. Whenever you play on EV+ you.ll always walk away with that tiny edge no matter what he actual outcome of the bet is. In the long-run, streaks are compensated for, and eventually the edge asserts its domination. Whenever you.re playing with negative EV you lose a little, again, no matter what the result of the bet is.

If you manage to play EV+ all the time (or at least most of the time) in poker, you.ll walk away a winner at the end of the day. The theory is that simple. Of course, knowing when the EV is on your side is much more complicated in poker than in the simple example presented, but that.s what odds calculators like MagicHoldem are for. They tell you the odds, taking all variables (bet odds, pot money, dead money, bet size etc) into consideration, all you have to do is act on EV+, and avoid EV-.

This is why good players shall always triumph over fish, no matter how lucky the latter get. The bad beats are compensated over the long run by the positive expected value, while the negative EV the rookies are playing with also kicks in. There are certain factors that can enhance your Positive expected value, and even tip the scale to the positive side in marginal situations. Rakeback is one such factor. By reducing the amount of rake you have to pay on every real-money hand that you play, it.ll create more EV+ situations for you than you.d normally get, which will positively influence your hourly rate as well. Rakeback is an edge that has little to do with the game itself (you sign up for it and that.s all you have to do), yet it has a huge impact on the eventual outcome of your poker adventure. Other such edges, that you should know about before you even settle down to play, are: game selection (choose Texas Holdem for the above named reasons) and table selection. Never underestimate the power of these - apparently small - edges. I know that if you understand the fundamental theory of poker I just presented, you won.t.

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