Poker is a card game played by two or more players. The cards are dealt face up and the players place bets. The player with the best five-card hand wins. Depending on the rules, there are also forced bets called antes and blinds that all players must put up before the cards are dealt.

Once the bets are made, the dealer deals three cards to the table that everyone can use. This is called the flop. Then the betting continues with each player having a chance to call, raise or fold their hands.

If you have a good hand and the board has bad cards, it’s usually better to just call the bets and hope for the best than to try to make a straight or flush with weak cards. But if the board has lots of good cards and you have a strong pocket pair, it may be worth raising to force all the other players to pay up for your hand.

Practice playing poker and watching experienced players to develop quick instincts. Watch how they react to each situation and think about how you would have reacted in the same position to improve your own poker instincts.