Poker is a card game where players compete to make the best five-card hand. The rules vary between games, but each involves betting rounds, an ante and blinds, and the player who wins the most chips at the end of the game is declared the winner. Typically, the winner will receive all the money that was placed into the pot by all the players at the table. Depending on the game, there may be rules for how this money is shared after the game is over.

To begin, each player puts an amount of money into the pot, called an ante or blinds, before cards are dealt. This money can be in the form of cash or chips. Once this money has been put in, the betting phase begins. Players can call, raise or fold. A call means that you are putting the same amount in as the player before you, a raise is adding more money and a fold is giving up your hand.

It’s also important to know how to read tells, as this is the only way that you can see if another player is bluffing or scared. In addition to this, it’s a good idea to study the different types of poker hands and their ranks. For example, a full house is three matching cards of one rank and two matching cards of another rank, while a flush is 5 consecutive cards of the same suit.