Poker is a card game where players wager money in a central pot on a hand of cards. The winner is the player with the highest ranked 5 card poker hand.

Each player places a forced bet, either an ante or blind bet. The dealer then shuffles the cards, and the player on their chair to their right cuts. The dealer deals each player two cards, face down. Players then bet and raise bets in a series of betting rounds. The cards are gathered into the central pot after each round of betting is finished.

Once the first betting round is complete the dealer puts three cards on the table that everyone can use, known as the flop. The players still in the hand get another chance to check or raise/fold their hands.

After the flop there is another betting round and then the dealer puts one more card on the table that anyone can use, this is called the river. Once the river betting round is over the cards are revealed and the winning hand declared.

A good beginner tip is to play aggressively with your best hands and to fold your weaker ones. This will force your opponents to call your bets and makes bluffing easier. Pay attention to the other players at the table too, a lot of poker reads don’t come from subtle physical tells but from patterns. For example if someone is always raising then chances are they have pretty strong poker hands and you can make a good read.