If you want to play poker well, you need to be able to read your opponents. While some of this comes from subtle physical poker tells and others from betting patterns, a good chunk of it is from observing how players react to certain situations. This is how you develop quick instincts to read the game and decide which actions are best for your hand and the overall strategy of the table.
The first thing you need to learn is about the different types, variants and limits of the game. After that you’ll need to get familiar with the basic rules. This includes how to act in each phase of the hand, how to play different types of hands, how to calculate odds and what are the best ways to make money in poker.
Position – This is probably the most important element of winning poker. It is the fundamental that allows you to control your opponents and increase the value of your hands. When you are EP (early position) or MP (middle position) you should open fewer hands than your opponents and only raise them when they have strong hands.
Knowing the different types of hands and how to rank them is crucial to winning poker. The most common hands are a high pair, a straight, and a flush. A high pair consists of two matching cards of the same rank, while a straight has five consecutive cards of the same suit. A flush consists of three matching cards of the same rank and two matching cards of another rank.