Poker is a card game where players place bets before the cards are dealt. Players reveal their hands at the end of the betting phase and the player with the best hand wins the pot. The cards are then re-shuffled and the next round with antes and blinds begins.

Learn the vocabulary

If the person to your left bets and you have a good hand, then you can say “call” or “all in.” This means that you’ll raise the amount of money that everyone else is betting. You can also say “sit out” if you don’t want to be involved in the hand at all.

When you have a good hand, it is important to keep betting. This will force weaker hands to fold and make it easier for you to win the pot.

You should also pay attention to your opponents. There are many different ways to read players, and you can even use subtle physical poker tells to get an advantage. However, most poker reads come from patterns. If a player is betting all the time then they must be holding some pretty strong hands.

Practice dealing the flop (or third street) several times and then assess your own hand. Repeat this process with the turn (or fourth street) and river (or fifth street). It takes a while to develop the ability to determine the strength of a poker hand, but you’ll get there! Keep practicing and you’ll be a pro in no time.