The Basics of Poker

Poker is a card game that can be played by 2 or more players. The object of the game is to win a pot, which contains all the bets placed during a deal. Players place their bets in the pot by raising or folding their cards. There are countless variants of the game, but most have the same basic rules.

Each player starts with two personal cards. The dealer then shuffles the deck and deals each player one card face up, starting with the player on their left. This card is called a flop. The players use their personal cards and the community cards to create a poker hand. The highest poker hand wins the pot.

There may be several betting rounds during a deal, depending on the game variant. At the end of each betting round, all the players place their bets in the pot.

You can raise your bet by saying “raise.” If you raise, the other players must either call your new bet or fold their cards. You can also check, meaning that you want to stay in the hand but don’t want to raise your bet anymore.

In most games, you’re dealt seven cards. The highest poker hand is five of a kind. If more than one player has a five of a kind, the higher rank of the cards breaks the tie (five aces beats four of a kind, and so on). Some games allow you to draw replacement cards in order to improve your hand.