Poker is a card game played by a group of players sitting around a table. Each player has chips that they can use to place bets on each hand. The goal is to win the “pot” (all of the bets placed during a hand) by having the highest ranked poker hand when the betting is over.
There are many different variations of the game, but the basic principles remain the same. There is a lot of skill and psychology involved in poker, especially when players make bets on their hands.
Usually, the dealer of a poker game is a non-player who is responsible for shuffling and dealing the cards to each player. A player can also be designated as the dealer by using a special chip, or by taking turns being the dealer. Some games require that a certain amount of money be placed as a blind bet before players are dealt their cards.
Some poker hands are very powerful, like a straight or a full house. A straight is five consecutive cards of the same suit. A full house is three matching pairs of cards. A pair is two cards of the same rank, and a high card breaks ties.