Poker is a card game in which players bet on the relative strength of their hands. Players can also bluff, but this depends on a number of factors. Winning a hand requires a strong combination of cards, or a “showdown.”
Each betting interval, or round, starts when one player puts chips into the pot. Then each player to his or her left must either call the bet by putting in a similar amount of chips, or raise it, or drop (fold), which means that the player does not want to put any more chips into the pot and leaves the game.
There are many different poker variations, but all have some things in common. All have a dealer, who is responsible for shuffling and dealing the cards to each player. Some games require a special chip that designates the dealer for each round. This can be a non-player or another player at the table.
The total amount of money bet during a round is called the pot. The player who wins the pot takes all of the chips in it. Occasionally, there is a tie between the top two best 5-card hands; in this case, the players share the pot.
Some poker variants have a special bet called an ante, which all players must make before the deal begins. These bets can replace or supplement the blind bets that some games have. Some games have a ‘check,’ which allows a player to remain in the pot provided that no one before them in that betting interval has raised their bet.