Poker is a card game where you compete with the other players to make the best 5-card hand. You do this by betting, revealing your cards when it is appropriate and bluffing. The highest hand wins the pot. There are hundreds of different poker variants, but most follow a similar structure.

In most poker games, players pay an ante (amount varies by game) to be dealt cards and then place bets into the pot. At the end of each betting interval (a number of which vary by game), the player with the highest hand wins the pot.

You deal yourself a pair of kings off the flop. That isn’t a great hand, but it is good enough. When the betting starts, Alex ’checks’ (he puts in the same amount as the player before him but doesn’t call that bet). Charley calls and Dennis raises a dime.

Besides having a solid understanding of the rules and basic strategy, you also need to understand your opponents. The key is reading their tells. Tells are unconscious habits, body language and facial expressions that reveal information about a player’s hand. They can be as subtle as a change in eye contact or as obvious as a gesture. Ultimately, you want your opponents to think that you have a strong hand so they fold early and let you win the pot. Otherwise, you have to play a long game with them and risk losing all your money.