When you play poker you bet money into the middle of the table to create a pot. The highest hand wins the pot. Typically players will start by putting in an ante (amount varies by game but our games are nickels) and then betting on their hand. Unless you have a strong hand it’s usually better to fold before the flop than to call or raise. A weak hand can’t beat a good bluff and you don’t want to continue betting money on it if it isn’t going to win. If you have a strong hand you should bet it to price out weak hands and boost your chances of winning.

When the flop comes you have 7 cards to use to make your best 5 card poker hand. Your two personal cards and the five community cards. A full house is three matching cards of one rank, a flush is 5 consecutive cards of the same suit and a straight is 5 cards of consecutive rank but from different suits. One pair is two distinct cards of the same rank and a high card breaks ties.

Pay attention to the other players at your table and learn to read them. Many professional poker players have a very quick instinct when it comes to reading other players. This doesn’t come from subtle physical tells but more so from patterns like how often a player bets, how much they fold and their stack size.