Poker is a card game played by two or more players. The aim is to form a winning hand by using the cards in your own hands and those on the table. You can win the pot by having a better hand than your opponents or by betting and raising enough to force them to fold.

Each player starts with two personal cards and then adds to these with five community cards that are revealed in a betting phase of each round. A winning hand must consist of at least five cards and contain your highest-ranked one. It is also important to understand the hand rankings and how they work.

A full house consists of three of a kind and a pair. If your highest card is higher than the dealer’s highest, you win. Otherwise, you tie with the second highest card breaking the tie and so on.

Getting to know your opponent is essential for playing well in poker. This can be achieved through observing their behavior and studying the way they react to various situations. Observing and analyzing experienced players is especially helpful, as it can help you develop quick instincts.

There are four turn actions in poker: Check, Call, Raise and Fold. Each of these actions affects the strength of your hand in different ways. To maximize the value of your strong hands, it is important to play them straightforwardly. By doing so, you make it more difficult for your opponents to outplay you by overthinking and arriving at wrong conclusions.