Poker is a card game in which players place chips (representing money) into a pot, and then bet on the outcome of their hand. The player with the best hand wins the pot. Players may also choose to fold if they believe their hand is weak.
During each betting interval, the player to the left of the dealer has the right to make the first bet. Then, each player has the option to call, raise or fold. For example, you might be dealt a pair of kings off the deal. Your opponent Alex checks (calls when he doesn’t owe anything to the pot) and Dennis raises. You can either hit or stay.
In poker, position is important because it gives you “bluff equity.” This means that when you’re in late position, your opponents will have a harder time putting you on strong hands like straights and full houses. Moreover, you can use your position to make bets with positive expected value that will trap your opponents or confuse them into making mistakes.
When you understand how to form a hand range and use it in your play, you’ll open up avenues for profit that you didn’t even know existed. You’ll learn how to play in situations that were previously a mystery, and you’ll start making bets that are calculated on the basis of probability, psychology, and game theory. You’ll become a better poker player almost instantly. This is because understanding hand ranges will bring an intuitive level of mathematics to the game that you simply could not achieve with simple rules.