Poker is a card game where you have the opportunity to beat your opponents through luck and skill. It’s easy to learn how to play but incredibly difficult to master. Over time, however, skill will nearly eliminate the variance of luck and your chances of winning will dramatically improve.

The first step in learning poker is understanding the rules and terminology of the game. Once you have a grasp of the basic rules, you’ll be ready to move on to more complex strategies.

A player must call a bet in order to stay in the hand. He may also raise it, but he cannot go all-in until his stack is equal to or higher than the size of the pot.

After the initial betting round is complete, three more cards are dealt face up on the board. These are community cards that any player can use to make a poker hand. This is called the flop. The next betting round is called the turn. Finally, the fifth and final card is dealt face up – this is known as the river.

One mistake many new players make is thinking about a poker hand individually. This is a bad strategy that will make you prone to mistakes. Instead, you should think about a poker hand in terms of ranges. If you can determine your opponent’s range, you can better decide how to play your hand. For example, you should be aggressive with your draws, as they can often be improved by betting and raising.