Poker is a card game that involves betting between players and the dealer. The goal is to make a good poker hand by making better decisions than your opponents in both the pre-flop and post-flop phases of the hand. The rules of the game vary from one variant to another, but there are some basic principles that every player should know.

Players place an initial amount of money into the pot before the cards are dealt. This is called the ante, blind, or bring-in. The person to the left of the button places the first bet and then the players in the seats to the right of the button act in turn. When you are out of position, it is best to bet aggressively to force weaker hands out of the pot. Alternatively, you can check behind if you have a strong value hand and inflate the price of the pot.

The first step to being a successful poker player is understanding your opponents’ ranges. This means figuring out how likely it is that your opponent has a certain type of poker hand, and then determining what the strength of their hand is. Beginners often try to put their opponent on a single hand, but advanced players will look at the full range of hands they could be holding and work out how likely it is that they have a stronger hand than yours. This is known as reading tells and is essential to the success of a poker player.