Poker is a card game played by 2 or more players. Each player has chips (representing money) that they place into a pot when it is their turn to act. The goal is to have a high-ranking poker hand when the cards are shown. The highest-ranking hand wins the pot – all the chips placed into it. It is also possible to win by betting that your hand is the best and getting other players to fold – this is called “bluffing.”
Each player starts with two personal cards, known as hole cards. A fifth community card is dealt face up on the table, this is the “flop.” There is then a round of betting (starting with the player to the left of the dealer) based on the combination of the five cards in the community and your own two personal cards – called your hand.
A player may choose to raise his or her bet if they want to add more money into the pot. This is done by saying “raise.” Players can also choose to check, which means they will not bet and will wait for the other players to act. A player can raise their bet at any time during the betting interval. However, if a player raises the bet and no other players call it then they cannot win the pot. This is because the odds of hitting the desired combination decrease as the number of unseen cards increases.