Poker is a card game that is played with a small group of people around a table. The players have their own stack of chips and bet on each hand, called a pot, until one person has all the chips or everyone folds. The game is fast-paced and the betting can be intense. A good player will mix up their style, betting and bluffing to keep their opponents guessing about what they have in their hand.
A dealer is responsible for shuffling the cards, dealing them to each player and collecting the bets. The dealer is also responsible for distributing the chips into both the main pot and any side pots that are created after a player goes all-in.
The dealer must also be able to read their opponents and understand what their tells are. This involves observing their body language, facial expressions, gestures and breathing. Understanding these tells can give a player a huge advantage in the game of poker.
There is no doubt that luck plays a big role in poker, but this does not mean that skill does not exist. In fact, poker is a game of both math and psychology and the more a player plays, the better they will become.
When a player has a bad hand, they must be able to analyze the odds of winning and make changes in their strategy. This is done by working out the range of possible hands that their opponent could have. For example, if they have two distinct pairs, they must first look at their highest pair and compare it to the Queen. If their high pair is higher, they should play the hand.
A good dealer is also able to protect the pot and prevent players from “splashing” the pot. This means that they should not let players put their hands in the pot unless they are making a bet or raising it. This is a breach of gameplay etiquette and the dealer should immediately warn the player or call over the floor man to resolve the issue.