Poker is a card game where players bet in order to win the pot. The best hand wins the pot, but sometimes players may have a tie in which case the pot is split evenly. The game originated in the sixteenth century and quickly spread to Europe and America. Today, it is an international game enjoyed by millions of people around the world.

The game starts when each player places an initial amount of money into the pot, known as an ante or blind. Then the dealer deals each player five cards. The players may discard some of their cards and take new ones from the top of the deck in order to improve their hand. If they don’t want to continue betting, they can simply fold their hand.

To succeed in poker, you need to be able to read your opponents. Look at their body language and pay attention to their betting patterns. You can also learn to read their tells, which are certain movements that indicate a player is holding a strong hand or bluffing. These include fiddling with chips or a ring, raising their eyebrows or smiling.

Another way to improve your poker game is to add aggression to your strategy. This can help you compete with strong players and increase your win-rate against weaker ones. But be careful about adding too much aggression, as it can backfire if you’re not in the right mood or don’t have a good reason to raise.