Poker is a card game in which the players compete for money. There are different variants of the game, each with a specific set of rules. Some of the most popular variants include Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and Seven-card Stud.
A player begins the game by buying in with a certain amount of chips. These are often white or red, depending on the game’s rules. These chips are worth a minimum amount, and the more chips a player buys in, the higher their total contribution to the pot is likely to be.
Each round of play has a betting interval, in which the players may place money into the pot. When a player makes a bet, other players must “call” (match) the bet or “drop” (not match) it.
Some players prefer to check, in which they remain in the hand without making a bet. They can do this, provided no one else has made a bet before them in that betting interval.
The rank of standard poker hands is determined by their odds (probability). The highest possible hand is five of a kind, which beats any straight flush.
There are also a number of variations on the basic poker hand, including full house, flush, and straight. A full house is a hand with three matching cards of the same rank, plus two unmatched cards. A flush is any 5 cards of the same suit, and a straight is any 5 cards of consecutive rank in more than one suit.