Poker is a card game with a lot of psychological and strategic elements. It is partly a game of chance but once betting begins, skill and psychology come into play a lot more than in games where nothing is at stake (like roulette).
The players sit around a table with their own stacks of chips representing money and each player has a turn to place a bet in a given hand. Players who want to increase their chances of a good hand can bet more than the player before them, while players who have a strong hand can bet less and keep the pot smaller. Players can also check, meaning they pass on their chance to act and let the next player go first.
Once the bets are placed in a poker hand, 2 cards are dealt face-down to each player (hidden from other players). These are called a player’s hole or pocket and are only used by that player for their own 5-card poker hand. Depending on the rules of the game, 3 additional cards are then dealt face-up at the center of the table (revealed to all players) called the flop. These community cards can be used by every player to make their best 5-card poker hand.
A poker hand consists of 5 cards and the highest hand wins. The standard poker card ranks are Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10, with the higher the rank the better the hand. Each player has a choice to use only the cards in his or her hand or all the community cards, and there are many poker variants that can alter these basic rules.
