Poker is a card game played between two or more players. Each player places an initial amount of money into the pot (also called a blind bet) before the cards are dealt. These mandatory bets give the players an incentive to play their hand, and help make the game competitive.

Each player receives 2 hole cards face down and then there is a round of betting, with the player to the left of the big blind betting first. The player can decide to raise the bet, check or fold his hand.

After the betting rounds, the players reveal their hands and the highest ranked hand wins the pot/all bets. It is important to note that the players’ hole cards are not revealed when they reveal their hand so if a player has good bluffing skills they can win the pot with a bad hand.

A pair contains two cards of the same rank and three other unmatched cards. Straight contains five consecutive cards of the same suit. Flush contains all the same suits, but can include different suited cards. High card breaks ties in pairs and flushes. A full house contains 3 matching cards of one rank and 2 matching cards of another rank. A straight flush contains 5 cards of consecutive rank in one suit. A high card is the highest ranked individual card in a hand.