Poker is a game that involves betting between players. Unlike other games of chance, money placed into the pot is only voluntarily made by players who either believe that they will have positive expected value or want to bluff other players for strategic reasons. This makes skill differences between players more apparent than in other games.
When the cards are dealt, each player can choose to “check” (not place any chips into the pot), call, or raise. If the player calls, then they must match or exceed the previous player’s raise. If the player does not call, then they must fold their hand. The highest poker hand wins the pot.
There are many different poker variations. Each game has a different set of rules. Most games of poker are played with chips – the color and value of which vary by variant. A white chip is worth a single unit of whatever the minimum ante or bet is for that particular game, while a red chip is worth five whites and a blue chip is worth 10 whites.
The deck is shuffled and cut before each hand is dealt. Then the dealer places a bet into the center of the table, known as the “button”. Players then place their bets into the pot in turn, passing clockwise. A player may say ‘raise’ to add more money to the pot, ‘call’ to match a previous bet, or ‘fold’ if they have a low poker hand.