A game of poker is a card game that involves players betting against each other based on their cards and their hand rankings. A player with the highest ranking hand wins the pot. This is called a Showdown.

In poker, it is important to read your opponents and understand their motivations and tendencies. While reading people is a broad skill that can be useful in many situations, reading your fellow poker players is more specific and involves watching their body language, gestures, and how they handle their chips and cards. In particular, the way a player holds their cards and how they handle them in their hands can give clues as to what they have in their hand.

Learning to read tells takes practice and a keen eye. A player’s energy levels, how they shake their head, how they move in their chair and other subtle cues can reveal their intentions. It is not easy to catch all of these tells, but focusing on a few that you can pick up on will make you a more successful poker player.

After the first round of betting the dealer puts three cards on the table that everyone can use. This is known as the flop. If there are more than one player still in the hand after this round of betting, they are shown their cards at a Showdown and the player with the best five card poker hand wins the pot. This includes a pair, a straight, a flush or a full house. In the case of a tie, the highest poker card is used to break the tie.