Poker is a card game in which players place bets on the basis of expectation values calculated using probability, psychology and game theory. Though the outcome of any given hand largely involves chance, long-term expectations are determined by the decisions made by players on the basis of expected value and bluffing strategy.
Each player is dealt two cards, face up or down depending on the game variation. Each player then bets on their own hand, with raising and re-raising allowed. Bets are placed into a central pot called the “pot.” This pot is typically shared by all the players in the hand, with some exceptions (see below).
When a player has a good poker hand they may choose to stay in the hand and raise bets. If a player feels their hand is bad, they can choose to fold and leave the pot.
Most poker books advise players to only play the best hands – a pair of high cards such as aces, kings, queens, jacks, or tens, or a high suited card such as ace-jack of one suit, or ace-queen of another suit. This advice surely makes sense in terms of winning money, but it can be boring to play for fun, and doesn’t really work if you don’t get very lucky.
It is important to watch other players’ betting patterns and try to guess what they might be holding. Conservative players are usually easy to identify – they are more likely to fold their hand early and can be bluffed easily. Aggressive players can also be spotted by their tendency to bet high early in the hand.