Poker is hugely popular, and for good reason: it’s a fun social game with a deep element of strategy that keeps players engaged and learning. While there are countless different ways to play poker, the basic rules and the betting process are pretty straightforward to understand.
First, everyone antes something (the amount varies by game). Then the cards are dealt – one card to each player face down. There is then a round of betting – starting with the player to the left of the dealer – that will determine who wins the pot.
A player can call, raise or fold. If they don’t fold they must then show their cards. The highest hand wins the pot.
It’s important to memorize a few charts so you know what beats what (a flush beats a straight, three of a kind beats two pair, etc.). But more importantly it’s critical to pay attention to your opponents. A large part of poker is reading other players. This can be done with subtle physical tells like scratching your nose or playing nervously with your chips, but it’s largely determined by patterns.
If you notice a player is betting all the time then you can assume they’re playing pretty crappy cards and are trying to bluff other players into calling their bets. However, if they’re folding all the time then you can safely assume they’re only holding strong hands and aren’t trying to bluff at all.