Poker is a card game in which players form a hand according to card rankings and bet against other players. The highest-ranked hand wins the pot, which is the total amount of bets placed by all players.

Poker has many different variants, but the majority of games use a standard 52-card deck. Each player puts in an initial amount of money into the pot, known as the ante. The player to the left of the button starts the betting round by placing their ante, and then players place bets in turn around the table. If you don’t have a good hand, you can fold and wait for the next deal.

One of the most important skills to have in poker is understanding how strong your opponents’ hands are. You can do this by studying their body language for tells, which are unconscious habits that reveal information about their cards. This way, you can work out their range of possible hands and determine whether or not to call their bets.

Another important aspect of poker is positioning. Being in the late position allows you to see what your opponents are doing before it’s your turn, and it also lets you control how much of the pot you want to inflate with your strong value hands. In addition, being last to act gives you the opportunity to steal bluffs from your opponent by raising the price on a weak hand. This is called “pot control”. If you’re a good player, you’ll know when to do this and when to let your opponents take their money without giving it back.