Poker is a card game played in a betting interval, or “round,” by two to eight players. Each player has the option to call, raise, or drop. A player who raises puts a larger amount of chips into the pot than the previous player, or “calls.”

In order to win a hand, a player must form a high-ranking combination of cards, called the pot. The winner is the player with the highest-ranking hand at the end of the betting round. A player can also claim the pot if they make a bet that no other player calls, leading them to fold their hand.

A key skill to develop is reading your opponents. There are many tells to look out for, including eye movements, idiosyncrasies, and betting behavior. Ideally, you want to read your opponent’s entire range of hands and try to figure out their odds of making a specific hand.

A good poker player will take risks, but will manage them. It is important to build your comfort level with risk-taking over time, starting with smaller risks in lower-stakes situations. It is also essential to recognize when your odds of winning a particular hand are diminishing, which is known as variance. Just says that she learned risk management as a young options trader, and it has helped her in poker. This means learning to recognize when it is wise to cut your losses and change your strategy, rather than chasing your losses with foolish gameplay.