Poker is a card game in which players make bets and exchange cards according to the rules of the game being played. The best hand wins the pot. There are many variants of poker, with different rules for how the cards are dealt and evaluated, but they all have similar features:
Before a hand begins, one or more players must place forced bets, typically an ante and a blind bet. The dealer shuffles the cards, the player to his right cuts, and the dealer deals each player five cards, face up or down (depending on the variant of poker).
At the end of each betting interval, a showdown occurs where the players reveal their cards and evaluate their hands. If only one player remains, he shows his cards and the winner is awarded the pot according to the standard hand rankings. In some games, the highest and lowest hands share the pot.
One of the keys to success in poker is understanding how other players play. This is achieved by learning their tells, such as eye movements, idiosyncrasies in hand gestures, and betting behavior. A good poker player is able to read the other players at his table and determine what kind of hand they are holding, based on the bets they have placed.
A good way to improve your poker skills is to talk about the game with other poker players who are better than you. However, this is only useful if the other players are willing to discuss their thought process with you and explain how they make decisions.