A Beginner’s Guide to Poker

Poker is a card game played by two or more players and involving betting. Players must make a forced bet (called an ante) to participate, and then are dealt cards face down. There are multiple rounds of betting, and the highest hand wins the pot.

There are many different variants of poker, and each has its own rules. Typically, there are five cards in a hand and the highest rank wins (Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10). Some games also allow jokers or wildcards which can replace any other card to form a stronger hand.

Tournaments can be organised in a variety of ways, and they range from local events to major global tournaments. The smallest events are called “locals” or “weeklies”. These are small, often low-cost, tournaments held in card shops, bars, community centres and sometimes universities. These are the entry point for most new players into the competitive scene and a great way to learn the game.

In tournaments, the goal is to extract as much value as possible from your winning hands and minimise losses when you have losing hands. This is known as the “MinMax” strategy. A common mistake is to play safe and only bluff when you have good hands, but this approach will lead to a smaller overall return.

A key aspect of poker is understanding the tells of other players. These are unconscious habits that can give away information about a player’s hand. They include eye contact, facial expressions and body language.