The game of Poker is a card game in which players compete to make the best five card hand using their own two cards and the community cards. Each player has a set of chips (representing money to bet) that they place into the pot before each round. There are also mandatory bets called blinds put into the pot by the players to their left before the cards are dealt.

The dealer shuffles the cards and offers them to the player to his right for a cut. If the player declines, he forfeits his turn to deal and must fold.

During each betting interval the players are trying to read each other. A conservative player will usually fold early in a hand, while an aggressive player will bet high to see what the other players are holding.

The best poker hands are those that combine the highest number of cards of the same rank. Other combinations of cards have value in inverse proportion to their mathematical frequency. For example, a full house contains 3 matching cards of one rank and 2 matching cards of another rank. A flush contains 5 consecutive cards of the same suit. A straight contains 5 cards of consecutive rank, but different suits. And a pair is made up of two cards of the same rank (example: a pair of six’s). During each hand there are 3 betting intervals. Players must make a decision to raise, call or fold their hands before the fourth card is dealt (the river). The player with the highest hand wins the pot.