Poker is a card game in which players place chips representing money into a common pot and then bet on the outcome of their hands. The first player to place chips in the pot is known as the “player to act first” (although there are a number of exceptions to this rule, depending on the game rules). When it’s your turn to bet, you can either raise the amount of your own bet or fold. The rest of the players can then choose whether to call your bet or raise their own. Often, a player’s body language will reveal if they are holding a strong hand or bluffing. Tells can include a player’s breathing patterns, the manner and content of their speech, and the position of their eyes.

Some games require the players to place an initial amount of money into the pot before the cards are dealt, called forced bets (also called antes and blinds). These chips are usually not part of the prize for the winner of the game. In these cases, the remaining players may agree that they will share the money in some way if they don’t win all of it.

It’s important to understand the rules of poker before you write a scene featuring it, but there are also a lot of other things that you can do to make the scene interesting. For example, focusing on the player’s reactions to the cards that are played and who wins the pot will add drama and tension to your scene.