Poker is a game where players are dealt 2 cards face down and then bet. They can choose to hit (take another card) or stay (keep their original two cards). A pair is 2 matching cards of the same rank and a straight is 5 cards in consecutive rank that skip around or are from different suits. A full house is 3 matching cards of the same rank and a flush is 5 cards that all share the same suit.

Each betting round in the hand begins when a player puts money into the pot, or calls, a certain amount of chips. Players can also raise the amount of money they put into the pot. They can do this by putting in more than the player to their left or just raising it if they think they have an excellent hand.

Advanced poker players look at the range of hands their opponent has when they make a decision about whether to call or raise a bet. This way they can understand the probability of hitting their own hand and the chances that their opponent has a better one.

It is important to learn about the math behind poker and to know what hands beat what. Having this knowledge will help you to make more profitable decisions and avoid making any unnecessary ones. This can be easily done through reading articles online or watching videos on YouTube. As you study these, the numbers will become ingrained in your poker brain and you will start to naturally consider them when thinking about a hand.