Poker is a game of chance, but it is also a game of skill. It is a game that is best played at a high level of thinking, where players understand how their opponents make decisions and can accurately put them on a range of hands. This is the only way to beat them at the game.
Depending on the rules of the particular variant of poker being played, one or more players are required to place an initial amount into the pot before any cards are dealt. This is usually in the form of an ante or blind bets. Once all of the players have placed their forced bets, the dealer shuffles the cards and deals them to each player one at a time, starting with the person to their left. The player then has the option to discard any of their cards and draw replacements, or to keep their current hand. After each betting round, any remaining bets are collected into a central pot.
This enables each player to extract the most value from their winning hands and minimise their losses from losing ones. It is an ideal way to separate the known from the unknown, the controllable from the uncontrollable – the essence of true skill. In a world that is increasingly uncertain, it’s a lesson that we could all learn from. But it’s a hard one to internalize outside the poker table, where people often blame externalities for their bad decisions rather than admit they were wrong in their certainties.