Poker is a card game where players use different hands depending on the situation. To understand poker odds, it helps to know the percentages and the ratio of bluffs and value hands. This can be done by estimating the frequency and visual range of each hand. You can use these ratios to find out how to balance your hands in the poker game. For example, you can write down the range of open-raising hands from different positions before the flop and divide them by four. This way, you’ll know the number of combos that each side would make if you raise, call, or fold the hand.

A pair is a set of two cards with the same rank. It is a winning hand when at least two cards are of the same rank. In poker, two pairs can be equal, but the highest pair wins. For instance, J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8. A higher pair also wins when two hands have the same rank.

There are 52 cards in a deck. A single hand is known as a “low hand”. A high hand is called a “high hand.” If you have more than five cards, you must choose five of them to make a poker hand. The rest of the cards do not affect the ranking. A royal flush is the highest poker hand and is the highest-ranking hand. This hand is the best possible hand, beating the straight flush.