Poker is a card game played in many different ways, but the basic rules are the same. Each player has chips (representing money) that they can use to place bets. The highest hand wins the pot, which is all of the bets placed so far. Players must “ante” a certain amount (the amount varies by game) to get dealt cards and then bet into the pot in turn. They can call, raise, or fold if they do not have a good enough hand.

If a player raises on a strong hand, other players may choose to fold, or they can call the raising player’s bet and put the same amount of chips into the pot. This process, called a betting interval, is repeated until all players have either folded their hands or raised to the max of the previous raiser.

In addition to the strategy of making good bets, there are a number of other skills that can help a player win more often. One of the most important is the ability to read tells. These are unconscious habits or tics that a player has that reveal information about their hand. They can be as subtle as a change in posture or as obvious as an exaggerated gesture. A good poker player knows how to spot these tells and can exploit them to their advantage. Another important skill is being able to predict opponent hands accurately, which is the basis of all good poker decisions.