Poker is a card game in which players place bets on the relative strength of their hands. The betting is based on the fact that poker hands have a rank that relates to their mathematical frequency; the higher the hand rank, the more frequently the hand occurs in the deck. The game has a large element of chance, but over the long run the game requires considerable skill and psychology.
There are a number of different ways to learn poker, from online courses to books and live lessons. Many of these courses are free but you should always check the reviews of the course before signing up. Some of these courses are based on video and do not allow you to play hands, but they can be a good way to get an introduction to the rules of poker.
After each player has two cards, they must decide whether to call or raise. When they call, they must put the same amount of chips into the pot as any player to their left. If they raise, they must put more into the pot than any previous player. If they are unwilling to do this, they must “drop” (fold), discard their cards and leave the betting.
The first thing that new players should try to do is stop calling so much. This is one of the biggest mistakes that players make. The reason that it’s so important to stop calling is that calling weak hands devalues your own hand.