Poker is a card game in which players wager money against one another. It is played with a standard 52 card English deck plus one or two jokers/wild cards, and can be played by any number of players from two to seven. Each player is dealt five cards and then bets on the strength of their hand. The highest ranked hand wins the pot.

There are several skills that a good poker player must possess. These include discipline, perseverance and sharp focus. In addition to these traits, a good poker player must also know how to read other players and understand how to maximize the value of their own hands. In order to be a profitable poker player, it is necessary to commit to smart game selection, which includes choosing the proper limits and game variation for your bankroll. It is also important to avoid games that are overly difficult or filled with players who will outperform you.

A poker player’s range is the entire scale of hands they could have in a particular situation, including strong value hands like ace-high, full house and straight, as well as weaker ones such as draw and mediocre pair. Advanced players try to read their opponents’ range and predict what kind of hand they will play. This helps them make better decisions about when to raise and when to call. This strategy also allows them to control the size of the pot, so they can inflate it further if they have a strong hand and keep the pot size under control when they have a mediocre or drawing hand.