Poker is a card game in which players place chips (representing money) into a pot in order to make a bet. The player who places the highest bet wins the pot. Players bet based on the probability and psychology of their opponents’ actions, as well as their own. While the outcome of any given hand does involve a substantial amount of luck, over time, a good player can expect to win more hands than they lose.

In the early stages of a poker game, players are feeling each other out and betting is usually light. This is known as the “exposition” phase of the game. Then, the action begins to rise as players become more confident in their hands and bet more aggressively. The exposition phase ends when the players reveal their cards and the final betting phase begins.

There are a few key things that you need to focus on in order to improve your poker game. One of the most important is understanding ranges. Ranges are the number of cards that a player could have and how strong those hands are. While new players tend to focus on putting their opponent on a specific hand, experienced players try to figure out what range of hands the other player has by looking for tells like body language or facial expressions.

Another thing that you need to do is stay aggressive – especially late into events. Players are tightening up at this point, which means you can steal blinds and orphaned pots from them!