Poker is a card game that involves betting. A player’s hand must contain at least five cards to win the pot. The players place a bet by putting chips into the pot and can raise it or fold their hand. If a player exposes one of their cards before the draw, their hand is dead and they forfeit any chance to win the pot.
There are two mandatory bets called blinds placed into the pot by the players to the left of the dealer before any cards are dealt. Players can raise or drop their bets at any time in the hand.
The dealer deals 2 cards to each player, face down. A round of betting then takes place based on the assumption that each player has a good or bad hand. The cards that were dealt are called the hole cards. After this round of betting, a 3rd card is dealt face up called the flop. There is another round of betting based on the assumption that each player has the best possible hand.
The most common hands are pairs, three of a kind, four of a kind, straights and flushes. A pair consists of two cards of the same rank, three of a kind is three cards of the same rank but different suits, a straight is five consecutive cards in the same suit, and a flush is five of the same rank. While Poker does involve a large amount of chance, most professional players understand that long term success is largely a result of skill, psychology and game theory.
