The game of poker is a card game in which players wager money (or chips) on the outcome of a hand of cards. It is a game of chance and skill, in which the value of a hand is inversely proportional to its mathematical frequency – meaning that more common hands are less valuable than rarer ones. The player with the highest ranked hand wins the pot, which is all of the bets placed during that particular round. Players may also choose to bluff, betting that they have a strong hand while hoping that other players will call their bet and concede defeat.
The object of poker is to win the most money by making the best hand of five cards at any point in the betting process. Each player begins the hand by placing an ante into the pot, which is matched by each subsequent player as they place their chips into the pot in turn.
After the flop is dealt, each player has the option of calling, raising, or folding. A raise is a higher bet than the previous player, and it must be made with at least the same number of chips as the last player.
As you play more and more, you will begin to develop a natural understanding of probability. You will see numbers in training videos and software output all the time, and they will become ingrained in your brain over time. This will make it easier to apply concepts like frequencies and EV estimation when you are at the table.