How to Bluff in Poker

Poker is a card game in which players place bets against other players. The highest hand wins the pot. Players can make their bets by calling, raising or folding. Poker is one of the most popular games in the world, and its strategy has been studied by mathematicians and economists (most notably John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern). A key aspect of poker is bluffing.

A player’s tells — unconscious habits that reveal information about the strength of his or her hand — are a major component of bluffing. These cues include eye contact, facial expressions and body language. A strong tell can be as subtle as a tilt of the head or as obvious as a change in the way a person holds his or her arms.

There are many variations of poker, but most involve a standard 52-card deck plus wild cards or jokers. The highest-ranking cards are Ace, King, Queen and Jack. The suits are spades, diamonds, hearts and clubs. Each player is dealt five cards, and bets are made in a series of betting rounds, with all bets collected into a central pot at the end of each round.

When a player has a high-ranked hand, he may bet more aggressively in the next betting round to increase the size of his or her share of the pot. Alternatively, he may bet small to discourage opponents from calling. He may also raise his stakes to try to force his opponent to fold before the showdown.