Poker is a card game played by 2 or more players. The dealer shuffles and deals the cards, and then players place forced bets called blinds. Once the betting interval ends, the remaining players show their hands and the player with the best hand wins the pot. Players can also call each other’s bets – this is known as raising.
The best players are able to extract value from their winning hands, and minimise losses from their losing ones. This is the concept of MinMax (Minimising losses – Maximising winnings).
While there is some skill involved mid-game, the outcome of a hand is mostly determined by luck at the beginning. This is why Poker is not considered a sport and can’t be won by athleticism.
Poker players are experts at using uncertainty to conceal their intentions from opponents – a complicated type of information processing that requires integrating multiple channels of communication and exploiting them in a dynamic environment. Moreover, successful players can separate their emotions from the game and remain objective, even when things are going wrong.
As a result, poker players are able to see subtle changes in the emotional lenses of their opponents. A player’s attitude and temperament can be a good indicator of whether they are on edge, and ready to make a big mistake. A sharp Poker player is able to spot these changes early, and make adjustments faster than their opponents. This gives them a huge advantage.