Learn the Basics of Poker
Poker is a card game with many variants. A typical hand involves five cards: your two personal ones in your hand, plus three community (‘community’ or ‘shared’) cards that everyone sees. There are usually four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs) but some games use other suits or wild cards. The highest hand wins the pot. If there is a tie, the pot is split equally.
In addition to learning the rules and understanding the basic strategies, a good poker player needs to be able to read other players and pick up on their ‘tells’ – the body language and facial expressions that give away whether they are bluffing or holding strong hands. They also need to have top-notch writing skills so they can clearly communicate their thoughts and observations to others.
A player must ante something – the amount varies by game, ours are typically a nickel – just to get dealt their cards. After that they can either fold, call or raise. If they choose to raise, the person to their left must match or raise their bet in order to stay in the pot. If they cannot match or raise or choose to fold, the pot goes to the player with the highest hand.