When playing poker, it’s important to make tough, but rational decisions throughout the session. If you’re worried about losing your buy-in when seated at a table, it can have a significant negative impact on your decision making. Therefore, it’s always best to err on the side of caution and play for stakes that you feel comfortable with.

Players are dealt two cards and have the aim of forming the best possible five card hand from these and the community cards (‘River’). Each player has a certain amount of chips (representing money, for which poker is invariably played) that they can place into the pot during betting intervals. To do so, they must match or raise the bet made by the player before them.

Poker uses a standard 52-card pack and can include jokers or wild cards. The cards are ranked from high to low in the following way: Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10, then 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. A pair contains two matching cards of the same rank, a three of a kind contains three cards of the same rank and a straight is five consecutive cards in a suit.

Poker can involve a lot of strategy, psychology and math. Some players have written whole books dedicated to specific strategies, but it’s always worth developing your own approach through detailed self-examination and discussion with other players to find out what works for you. It’s also a good idea to regularly tweak your strategy as you gain experience in the game.