Poker is a card game that involves betting between players. It has a number of different variants, but the underlying skill is to minimize losses with bad hands and maximize winnings with good ones. Players begin by putting an initial contribution, called the ante, into the pot. When it is their turn to bet, they can call a previous player’s bet, raise it or drop.
When you have a strong hand, bet aggressively to make the other players think twice about calling your bets. You’ll force weaker hands out of the pot and you’ll be forced to reveal your own strong hand, if you have one, in the process.
At the beginning of each betting interval (or “round”), a player must put in at least as many chips into the pot as any previous player. If a player does not wish to bet, they may “check,” provided no other players have already done so during that betting interval.
After the first round of betting, five community cards are dealt face up on the table. This is known as the flop. Then, more rounds of betting occur, until all players have revealed their hands and the player with the best poker hand wins the pot.