Poker is a game of cards in which players form the best hand they can with their two personal cards and the five community cards on the table. The goal is to win the pot – all the bets placed during a round of betting – at the end of the hand.
Poker requires patience and good bluffing skills. When the cards don’t work out, players need to be able to fold. If they can’t do that, their opponents will take advantage of them. This is where the art of reading opponents comes into play. The best players have a detailed strategy that they develop over time by taking notes and reviewing their results. They also discuss their strategies with other players for a more objective look at their own style and strengths.
Unlike new players who tend to focus on their own moves, pro players concentrate just as much on the opponent’s moves. The first step in this process is learning how to read an opponent’s range of hands. They will go through the entire selection of possible hands that player B could have and try to work out what percentage of those hands will beat theirs.
It is important to remember that your hand is only as strong or as weak as the hands other players can hold. This is called “playing the player”. For example, if your opponent has a pair of kings then you’re going to lose 82% of the time if you have a single king.