You may even lose with pocket aces several times in a row, though the odds of that happening are low. Of course, another hand will crack those aces from time to time. Against a table full of other poker players, aces still hold positive equity of 35%. Pocket aces will win 85% of the time against another hand (in heads-up poker). They’re the best starting hand in Texas hold’em. If you make that decision in various situations multiplied by hundreds or thousands of instances, and it creates a positive end result, that decision is +EV even if in isolated moments the result is negative. Good EV or positive EV in poker is a decision that has a positive result in the long run.

The takeaway What is a good EV in poker?.

Recommended tools for using EV in poker.

Using expected value at the poker table.

A player can then use that information to play better poker. It provides the mathematical analysis: the odds of a decision working out in a particular way over time.

But EV is a good baseline for decision-making. Players who study poker can calculate EV in any particular hand in most cases and determine whether a decision has a positive or negative EV.ĮV is not the only factor used in making positive EV decisions - not by a long shot. This is because of decisions based on positive expected value, also known as positive EV or +EV. Poker is generally accepted as a game of skill and luck, but where skill can outweigh luck in the long run rather than the short term. It is the likelihood that the decision would lead to either a positive or negative result if made repeatedly. In its most basic usage, EV is the value of your decision in a poker hand or situation over time.

It has long been a common term in poker and is now more widely used outside of the game’s community as well.

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