Poker is a card game in which players make bets on the value of their hands. A player’s hand comprises five cards. The hand’s value is inversely proportional to its mathematical frequency; a rarer combination of cards makes a stronger hand. Players may bluff by betting that they have the best hand, forcing other players to call, or they can discard their cards and take replacements from the deck.

During the first round of betting, each player must place an ante to the pot. After a player has a strong enough hand to compete with the other players, they can raise their bets. This is a good way to force weaker hands out of the pot and make the stronger ones value more.

A poker hand consists of five cards of the same suit and is of a higher rank than any other combination of five cards. Other important card values are pairs, where two cards are the same (for example, a pair of sixes), and three of a kind, where each of the cards is the same as one another.

The skills needed to succeed in poker—like risk management and strategic thinking—are also important for success in business. Jenny Just, 54, co-founder of PEAK6 Investments and a self-made billionaire, says that she learned many lessons about risk management as a young options trader in Chicago that have since translated to her life in the world of finance and investing. She advises newcomers to “take more risks, sooner,” even though some of them will fail.