Card games have been found to help increase mental agility, but there is another reason to shuffle the deck: It’s fun, especially when you win. We asked Annie Duke, a professional poker player and one-time doctoral candidate in cognitive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, for tips on playing your cards right. No matter if you occasionally catch the game on TV or play regularly with your friends, you’ll benefit from her insights.

Setup
▪ Stack your deck. Use a 52-card deck, no jokers. Duke recommends all-plastic cards versus paper. "They clean up easily and last for years," she says.
▪ Set the table. Cover your table with a piece of felt (available from fabric or hobby shops). "A normal tabletop can be slippery; plus, felt protects from unwanted scratches," Duke says.

Basic advice
▪ Know when to fold. Poker is one of the few games you can stop playing when the stakes get too high. "People often make the mistake of staying in too long," Duke says.
▪ Bet wisely, no matter if you’re playing for pennies or peanuts. "Strike a balance between betting an amount that’s exciting and an amount where if you lose, it’s OK," Duke says.

Bluffing 101
▪ Be a better bluffer: "You don’t have to bet big," Duke says. Opponents often fold just as easily for smaller bets as for larger ones. But do bluff carefully. "Don’t try to bluff every hand. Bluff only when you feel the other person is likely to fold."
▪ Spot a bluffer: "Look for a bet that doesn’t make sense," Duke advises. "You might think, 'Wait a minute, if she had a good hand, she wouldn’t bet so big because she wouldn’t want me to fold—she’d want to keep me in the game and win more.'" Also, "Bluffers avoid eye contact and usually blink fast when placing bets," Duke says.