Poker is a card game where players compete to form the best possible hand based on their cards and to place bets into a central pot. The player who has the highest-ranking hand at the end of the betting round wins the pot. The game consists of several rounds of betting and the players’ hands develop during the course of the hand by discarding cards and drawing replacements.

The first step to becoming a good poker player is developing comfort with risk-taking, Just says. It is important to take risks in smaller, lower-stakes games and learn from those mistakes, she adds.

Another key skill is learning to read other players, she says. This can be a difficult skill to master, but there are a lot of things to pay attention to, she adds, including mood shifts, body language and eye movement. It is also helpful to keep a record of your opponents’ bets, so you can see how their odds of winning change from round to round.

If you want to raise the amount of money you put into the pot, you can say “raise.” The other players will then go around in a circle and choose whether or not to call your new bet. If you are not comfortable raising your bet, you can fold your cards into the dealer’s face-down to avoid giving the other players any advantages.