Poker is a game of strategy, calculation and risk. It involves a complex combination of mathematics, economics, psychology, deception and belief. It is an extremely complicated and subtle game, relying heavily on the interaction between players. The best players understand how to manipulate the other players in order to win. The game is played over multiple hands and the aim is to extract maximum value from your winning hands and minimise losses from your losing ones. This process is called Min-Max.
One of the most important things to learn is how to read the opponent’s range. This is done by analysing the way the player plays and how they react to certain situations. It is more difficult to do this in a live game but even online, there are tells to look for. The most common are physical tells but more advanced players will work out the frequency of their opponent’s bluffing.
Another thing to learn is how to play aggressively. This is achieved by betting on the strong hands and forcing weaker hands out of the hand. This will increase your chances of winning the hand.
Ties are decided by the highest pair, three of a kind, straight or flush. If there is no high pair, then the kicker is used to break ties. The kicker is any card that doesn’t belong to either the pair or the flush. It is used as a higher rank to break the tie.
