Poker is a card game in which players wager money against one another. The goal is to win all of the money that was put down as buy-in at the table over the course of many rounds by having the best five-card hand. Sometimes, there is a tie among the players that have the best 5-card hands and the pot is shared.
Each round begins with one or more betting intervals, depending on the rules of the particular poker variant being played. During each betting interval, the player designated to begin the betting (or “button”) must place chips into the pot representing their stake. These initial forced bets are known as antes, blinds, or bring-ins.
When it is a player’s turn to bet, they must say what their desired action is on the table: Call, raise, or fold. A “call” means to make a bet equal to the amount raised by the person to his or her left. A “raise” means to increase the previous player’s bet by an additional amount.
A player can also use deception on the table by bluffing or slow-playing their hand. Bluffing involves betting with a weak hand in the hopes of causing other players to fold superior hands. A related technique is slow-playing, in which a player makes weak calls with a strong holding in the hopes of encouraging opponents to call or raise in order to increase the payout. This type of deception is particularly important when playing against better players as it can lower the expected value of their losses.
