Poker is a game of strategy and deception. If you cannot fool your opponents into believing you have something they don’t, whether it’s a strong hand or a bluff, then victory is impossible to achieve. Fortunately, the fundamental winning poker strategy is available to anyone who’s willing to learn it. But staying the course when that strategy doesn’t produce the results you’re hoping for is another matter entirely.
Depending on the rules of the variant being played, one player (or more) must place an initial amount into the pot before the cards are dealt. These mandatory bets are called blinds and are placed by players to the left of the dealer. Any player who wishes to stay in the pot must raise his or her stake by at least an amount equal to the total contribution of the player who raised it before him.
After all the bets have been made, the remaining players reveal their hands and the highest-ranking ones win the pot (the total of all the bets). This is referred to as a “showdown.”
While it’s important to play solid value hands, don’t forget that poker is a game of variance and you’ll lose some, even the best players. Watch videos of Phil Ivey when he’s taking bad beats and see how he never shows any emotion or gives away that his losses are bothering him. It’s this level of mental toughness that separates the good players from the great ones.