Poker is a card game where players place bets with chips or cash to win a hand. The aim is to have the highest ranked hand when the cards are shown at the end of the betting phase. The player with the highest ranked hand wins the “pot” – all of the money that has been bet during that hand. Players may also bluff and win the pot by making false claims about their hand.
The game of poker has many variants, but the basics are the same: Each player is dealt 2 cards face down (hidden from other players). There are then 5 community cards that are revealed and the players try to make the best 5-card hand using their own two cards and the community cards. The highest hand is a royal flush, which consists of 4 matching cards of the same rank in a single suit. Other high hands include a straight, which contains 5 consecutive cards of the same rank; and three of a kind, which consists of 3 matching cards of one rank plus two unmatched cards.
To start the betting phase, each player must put in two mandatory bets (called blinds) into the pot. These are usually set at an agreed amount before the game starts. Once the betting phase has started, players take turns clockwise around the table revealing their cards. If they have a good hand, they raise the bet. If they don’t have a good hand, they fold and lose their bet.