Poker is a card game where players wager money against each other. The goal is to make the highest hand. There are many different poker games, some of which are more popular than others. In most forms of poker each player puts an initial amount into the pot before cards are dealt. This is called a bet and it usually takes one of three forms: an ante, a blind bet, or a bring-in.
Once everyone has acted it’s time to see the flop. The dealer places the first three community cards face up on the table for all to use. Players can then check (make no bets), call, raise or fold.
After the flop betting round is complete the dealer will place a fourth card on the board for all to use. This is called the Turn and there will be another betting round.
During this time you should be looking for strong hands and trying to force weaker ones to fold. A good way to do this is by raising. A cheeky raise can put a lot of pressure on an opponent and they might think twice about calling your bets next time.
It’s also important to remember that position is a huge factor in your success. If you’re in EP you should be very tight and only open with strong hands, whereas MP is better and you can start to mix up your opening range slightly. The more you play, the more these concepts will become ingrained in your brain and you’ll start to develop an intuition for things like frequencies and EV estimation.