Poker is a game of incomplete information in which each player aims to make the best 5 card hand using their own two cards and the five community cards on the table. Players can bet and call the other players’ bets using their chips (money to play with). Unlike a casino game, there is no “house edge” so long as you stick to a solid strategy based on probability and psychology.

After everyone has their two cards, the dealer deals a fourth card face up (“The Flop”). There is another round of betting (with the two mandatory bets called blinds placed into the pot by the players to the left of the button).

A fifth community card is dealt (“The River”) and there is a final round of betting. The player with the highest 5-card hand wins the pot. If there is a tie for the best hand, the money in the pot is shared among those players.

Good poker strategy relies on reading the tells of other players – unconscious habits they display through their eye movements, facial expressions, body language and gestures that give away their cards’ strength. Learning their tells helps you to read their intentions and improve your own poker game. Observing experienced players and imagining how you would react in their position is also a valuable exercise. This will develop your instincts and prevent you from acting on emotion, known as playing on tilt.