Poker is a game of skill and chance, but it also requires discipline and a strong desire to improve. It can be frustrating when you lose a hand you felt you had the best chance of winning, but that’s part of learning the game. The best players are able to remain focused and mentally stable, even during a losing streak. These skills can be applied to other areas of life, like investing and personal relationships. In fact, some of the top investors on Wall Street play poker.

One of the most important things to develop as a player is an understanding of ranges. While beginners often try to put their opponent on a particular hand, experienced players will consider the entire selection of hands that their opponents could have and work out how likely it is that they’ll have a hand that beats yours. This allows them to make much more accurate decisions about betting and bluffing.

To improve your understanding of ranges, you should practice by watching experienced players and imagining how you would react to their moves. This will help you develop quick instincts and improve your decision-making. Over time, you’ll find that the numbers you see in training videos and software output become ingrained in your poker mind, and you’ll start to have an intuition for things such as frequencies and EV estimation. This will enable you to be a more effective player and keep your opponents guessing about what your next move will be.