Poker is a card game played by two or more players. The object of the game is to win the pot, which contains all bets made during a deal. A player may call a bet, raise it, or fold. A player who raises must either have a superior hand or make a bet that no other players call.
In a standard poker game, each player is dealt five cards. The cards form a poker hand, which is ranked according to its odds (probability). In addition to a ranking of poker hands, there are several different ways to win. Usually, the highest hand wins; however, ties are possible.
The first step to understanding poker is learning the rules. Each poker variant has slightly different rules, but there are certain fundamentals that all poker games share. For example, each betting interval, or round, begins when a player, designated by the rules of the particular poker variant, puts into the pot (representing money) the amount of chips equal to or greater than the total stakes of the player who raised last. Alternatively, a player can “drop” (fold), meaning that he or she does not put any chips into the pot and is not eligible to win more than the amount he or she has already staked.
In most poker games, players buy in for a fixed number of chips. Each chip is worth a specific amount; for instance, a white chip is worth a unit (which varies by game), while a red or blue chip is worth five units.