Poker is a card game played by players in which each player wagers (and often wins) based on the value of their hand. The bets made by all players are placed into a pot at the end of each betting round, and the player with the highest ranked hand when the cards are shown at showdown is declared the winner of that round.
A hand consists of five cards. The highest possible hand is a straight, which contains five consecutive cards of the same rank. A flush is four cards of the same suit. A three of a kind is two cards of the same rank, and a pair is two matching cards of the same rank.
When a player makes a bet, each other player must either call the amount of the bet, put in more than that amount (raising), or fold. If a player folds, they drop out of the betting round and forfeit any chips they have already placed into the pot.
A player may also make a bluff, trying to make the other players believe that they have a good hand. If they are successful, the other players will drop out of the betting and leave their chips to the winning player. This style of play is considered risky, but with the right strategy it can lead to a large reward. A common mistake, however, is to only bluff when you have a strong hand, which will result in your opponents knowing that you have a strong hand and are less likely to call your bluffs in the future.