Poker is a card game played between two to seven players. It is generally played using a standard 52 card English deck, although it may be played with one or more wild cards. The game is primarily a betting game, with players placing chips (representing money) into a pot in the middle of the table. The player with the highest hand wins the pot. Players can also win by bluffing, making bets that they have a superior hand when in fact they do not.
During the betting phase of each hand, the players can choose to call, raise or fold. Each player has a certain amount of money they can place into the pot during each betting interval; this limit is known as their limit. If a player raises their limit, they must place the new amount in the pot before they can bet again.
A full house contains three matching cards of one rank and two matching cards of another rank. A straight contains five consecutive cards of the same suit, but can be mixed. A flush contains five consecutive cards of different suits, but the top card in each suit must be higher than the lowest.
When playing poker, learning to read your opponent’s tells (eye movements, idiosyncrasies, hand gestures, betting behavior etc) is vital to success. A player who makes a sudden large raise is often trying to indicate that they have a strong hand, so make sure you are paying attention!