I am not new to poker but I am new to these forums and I have seen the phrases +EV and -EV around the forums and were wondering what they meant.

EV= Expected value.

+EV means that in the long term this play will make more money then it loses. (I.e. you should call w/ a gutshot straight draw getting 12 or better to 1 odds, since hitting a gutshot draw is about 11-1, in the long term you will make $)

-EV means that in the long term you lose money. (If you are getting say 8-1 on your money with a gutshot draw, fold. You lose money long run.

MTD has it right. EV is the expected average return on any action. Every action in life has EV, like trying to cross a ten lane interstate during rush hour is -EV.

Example, When you flip a coin, Your buddy will pay you $2 for every heads, and you pay him $1 for every tails.

50% of the time you get $2 = +$1
50% of the time you lose $1= -$.50

Total = +$.50 profit for each flip of the coin.

So your Expected Value every time you flip the coin is a $.50 profit. So if you flip the coin 100 times, theoretically you should be ahead $50. This can be translated to poker very easily. If you can figure (usually an exact amount can be figured after the hand has been played, but during you can guestimate if it's +ev or -ev) the EV of a move, and it's +, you should make this move as much as possible. You should try to not make -EV moves.
5

I think just because of the two explanations this should be stickied.