Poker is a card game played by two or more players and usually involves betting. Each player buys in with a set number of chips; typically, a white chip is worth the minimum ante or bet and a red or other colored chip is worth five whites. After the antes and bets are placed, each player may make a raise. A raise means the player wants to put more money into the pot than the previous player did. The other players can choose to Call the raise or fold.

A poker hand consists of any combination of cards that form a pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, or full house. A pair consists of two identical cards; three of a kind is 3 matching cards of the same rank; a straight is 5 consecutive cards of the same suit; a flush contains all five suits in a row. Poker also requires a certain amount of skill when it comes to bluffing. A good poker player can bluff in a variety of ways, including pretending to have a strong hand or pretending to have a weak one.

The most important aspect of Poker is learning to read the other players at the table. Your hand is only good or bad in relation to what the other players are holding. For example, you can hold pocket kings and still lose 82% of the time if the guy to your right is on J-J.