Poker is a card game in which players try to put together the best possible hand of five cards. The player with the highest hand wins the pot, which contains bets placed by players during a single hand. The cards are dealt from a standard deck, which includes 52 cards plus jokers (in some games these cards are called wild).

The first step in building a solid poker strategy is to understand the probabilities of getting each card that you need to win. This requires some basic math, but is not difficult to master once you have the fundamentals in place.

Once a hand is dealt, each player will have to decide whether to call (match the bet made by the person before them) or raise it. In some games, a player can also draw replacement cards from an undealt deck to improve their poker hand, which is typically done during or after the betting round.

After each player has either folded, called or raised their bet, the last player to act will have the option to check (pass on their turn) or put in a bet of any size, which is known as going all-in. If a player goes all-in, they will place the amount of money (representing chips in poker) that they have to win the pot into the middle of the table.

One of the most important skills in poker, says Just, is learning to recognize when your odds are deteriorating. “When you realize that your chances of winning are diminishing, then it is time to fold,” she says.