Poker is a card game in which players make bets with chips that represent money, for which they compete to win the pot. Bets may be placed by any player, including those who do not hold a hand, and they can be raised or folded. The player with the highest-ranking hand wins the pot. A hand can consist of one to five cards. Its value is in inverse proportion to its mathematical frequency: a highly unusual combination of cards is worth less than a common pair. Players can also win by bluffing, claiming to have a superior hand when they do not; this strategy is called raising.

Depending on the rules of a particular poker variant, two mandatory bets are put into the pot before the cards are dealt: antes and blinds. These are required to generate a pot to win and provide an incentive for people to play the game.

Once the players have their two hole cards, another round of betting starts, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. A third card is then dealt face up on the table, which is called the flop. The flop initiates a new round of betting, but this time, only the players with the best 3-card hands can raise.

A fourth card is then dealt, which is called the turn. At this point, a player can replace one of the cards in their hand with another from the remaining community cards on the table (known as a “bring-in”). The final round of betting begins once all players have either called, checked, folded or made an all-in bet.