Poker is a card game played with a single deck of cards. The game has hundreds of variants, but most games share the same basics. The players make forced bets over a series of rounds, and the player with the best five-card hand wins the pot. While a large part of the outcome of any particular hand involves chance, poker is also a game of skill and psychology.
Players buy in with chips, and each chip has a specific value. A white chip is worth the minimum ante or bet, a red chip is worth five whites, and so on. These values are usually printed on the chips, and a dealer is responsible for keeping track of them throughout the game.
The dealer then shuffles the cards, and begins dealing them to the players one at a time, starting with the player to their left. When the first betting round is over, he deals three additional cards to the table that everyone can use, known as the “flop.” The highest hand wins the pot, but players can fold if they believe they can’t win or have no desire to continue playing.
Between betting rounds, the players develop their hands by checking (passing on betting), calling (putting chips into the pot that their opponents must match or raise) or raising (betting more than the previous player). It’s important to understand the different types of bets and how they impact your chances of winning.