Poker is a card game played between a group of players with chips (money) to bet with. Each player is dealt two cards face down and five community cards are then dealt (called the flop). The objective is to make the best 5 card hand using your own 2 cards and the 5 community cards. The highest hand wins the “pot” which is all of the money that has been bet so far. If you want to add more money to the pot, you can say “raise” and then other players must call your new bet or fold (stop betting).
The most valuable hand is a Royal Flush which contains four matching cards of one rank and five consecutive cards of another suit. The next highest hand is a Straight which consists of five consecutive cards of the same rank but from different suits. A Three of a Kind contains three matching cards of the same rank and a pair is two cards of the same rank but not the same type, for example, three sixes.
There are a number of different strategies for winning at poker including reading tells (body language) and understanding how strong other players’ hands are. It is also important to be aware of how much your own hand is worth and not get caught up in the hype of the moment. The game is very fast paced and requires careful thinking and planning before you act.