Poker is a card game that requires a combination of skill and luck. The game has hundreds of different variations, but most share certain elements. The most important skills are reading your opponents and making good decisions under pressure. These are called meta-skills and are the foundation of a top poker player’s success.

The game starts with a round of betting. Each player places a mandatory amount of money into the pot before being dealt cards. These bets are called antes, blinds, or bring-ins. Once everyone has two hole cards, there is another round of betting, starting with the player to the left of the dealer.

If you want to raise the amount of money in the pot, say “raise.” This tells other players that you have better cards than they do and that you are trying to win. If you raise, your opponent must call your new bet or fold.

During the rest of the hand, you can either call a bet or raise it yourself. If you say “call,” that means you are matching the amount of money that was raised by the last person to play. Unless you raise it again, you will stay in the pot until the showdown.

While online poker eliminates in-person knowledge of your opponent’s cues, you can still learn about their behavior through behavioral dossiers. You can also make use of tools like Pot Odds and Expected Value (EV). The more you practice, the better you’ll become at extracting signal from noise to make informed decisions.