Poker is a gambling game where players compete to form the highest ranking hand based on card rankings in order to win the pot. The pot is the aggregate sum of all the bets made during a hand. While luck will always play a role in poker, there is considerable skill involved when betting.
A solid starting point for any poker player is to learn the rules, limits and variants of the game. After that it is recommended to learn the basic principles of poker strategy including position, bet sizes and odds.
It is also important to study how your opponents behave and read their betting patterns. A large part of this involves reading subtle physical poker tells like body language, idiosyncrasies and hand gestures. However a more important part is simply understanding the way they play the game. For example if an opponent raises a lot when they have a mediocre hand it is likely that they are trying to bluff. If they are a tight player who rarely raises then they might be holding a weak hand but they can still dominate when they do decide to raise.
A good poker player must have discipline and perseverance to stay focused on improving their game. They must commit to learning and studying poker, even when they are not in a profitable game. They must also have a high level of self-control to avoid getting bored or distracted during games.