Poker is a game of cards where you compete with the players at your table for the pot. It’s a game of highs and lows, where sometimes you will be jumping for joy and other times you will be despairing of your terrible luck. What will keep you going over the long run, though, is your love for the game and a strong winning strategy.

In the first stage, called the flop, there are 2 cards dealt face up to each player. Then there is a round of betting which begins with the player to the left of the dealer. In the third stage, called the turn, another card is revealed and there is a new round of betting. Finally, in the fourth and final stage, called the river, the 5th community card is revealed and there’s a final betting round.

The highest 5 card poker hand wins the pot. The higher the pair the better. A pair of aces beats a pair of 10s. Two pairs of equal rank is a tie. The highest unmatched card determines which hand wins a tie.

It is important to know the rules of poker and how the different hands are ranked. A great place to start is with a basic poker hand chart. You can print one out and study it while you play with fake money. Later, when you are more confident in your skills, you can learn to calculate probability which is a crucial part of good poker playing.