Poker is a card game in which players make wagers based on the strength of their hand. The game may have several betting rounds. There are different rules for each round. The game can be played with different numbers of cards, and they can be dealt face up or face down.
A dealer is responsible for shuffling the cards and dealing them to the players. They may also be responsible for some of the betting rules. They are usually paid a small amount for their service. A dealer chip is passed on to a new player after each betting round.
Once all the players have their two hole cards, there is a round of betting that is initiated by mandatory bets called blinds put in by the players to the left of the dealer. Once this round of betting has finished, 3 more community cards open up on the table, known as the Flop. At this point, players can check, call or raise. Player 1 could raise if they believed that their opponent had a strong straight or flush draw, which would scare them into folding weaker hands.
The aim of the game is to extract as much value as possible from your winning hands and minimise losses from your losing ones. This is known as MinMax. Ultimately, the goal is to make more money than you lose – the most successful poker players do this. There are many different ways to do this, from playing a great hand to bluffing your opponents.