How to Bluff in Poker

Poker is a game of chance where your goal is to form the highest-ranking hand at the end of each betting round, in order to win the pot. The pot is the total amount of money that players have placed in bets during a hand. Players place chips (representing money) into the pot when they decide to make a bet.

If you don’t have a good poker hand, it is best to fold. However, if you have a good poker hand and your opponents are making big bets, you can raise the bet to force them out of the hand or to win the pot. This is known as a “call.”

One of the key things to know when playing poker is that your hands are only good or bad in relation to what other people have in their hand. For example, if someone has two pair and you have KK, your kings will beat their two pairs 82% of the time.

You should also be able to read other players and watch for tells. This means noticing nervous habits like fiddling with chips or a ring, as well as observing how they play the game. It is important for beginners to be able to recognize the tells of other players, so they can be more successful when bluffing.