Poker is both a game of skill and a game of storytelling. Every action you take — fold, call, raise or check — communicates something to your opponents. They try to piece together your actions and decide if you have a strong hand or just a good one. The goal is to give away the least amount of information while still making a good decision.
Each player starts with 2 hole cards. There is a round of betting after the deal, then another card is dealt face up called the flop. Again, there is a round of betting starting with the player to your left.
After all of the players reveal their hands, the highest hand wins the pot. The highest hand can be made up of a pair, three distinct pairs, or one high card. Ties are broken by whichever player has the highest card, then the second highest, and so on.
One of the best things you can do to improve your poker game is learn how to read your opponents. This is called “reading tells.” The most obvious tells are nervous body language, but it’s also important to pay attention to how the players at your table talk, and the way they play their hands. For example, if someone who usually calls a lot of bets suddenly raises a lot of money, they probably have a good hand.