Poker is a card game in which players wager a certain number of chips into a pot before they see their cards. They can also bluff, betting that they have the best hand and convincing other players to fold (abandon their hands). The goal of poker is to win the pot, which contains all the bets made by the players during one round.

Each player starts with two cards called hole cards or pocket cards. The value of a poker hand is in direct proportion to its mathematical frequency, meaning that the more rare the combination of cards the higher the hand rank. The poker hand is formed by a combination of the player’s own cards and community cards on the table. The highest ranked poker hand is a royal flush which is comprised of a royal flush, four of a kind, straight, or three of a kind.

A player must either call a bet by placing the same amount of chips into the pot as the player who made the bet, or raise it by increasing the bet. The players who call or raise a bet then place their cards on the table in order to determine who has the highest poker hand.

Once the initial betting round is complete the dealer deals three cards face up on the board called the flop. Then everyone still in the hand gets a chance to bet. The bettor can either call the bet, raise it or fold.