The Basics of Poker

Poker is a game of chance and skill, where players bet on the strength of their cards. It is played from a standard pack of 52 cards (although some variant games use multiple packs or add wild cards). The card ranks are Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. There are four suits: spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. The highest hand wins the pot.

The game is fast paced, with players betting in turn as they see their cards. Players can raise their stakes by putting in chips into the pot, or fold if they don’t want to continue betting. They can also check, which means that they pass their turn to act and let other players bet.

Before the flop, each player places their hidden cards into the “pot” (which represents money). The player to the left of the big blind makes the first bet in this phase, called pre-flop betting. Then, 3 cards are dealt face up in the center of the table and are revealed to all players, forming what is known as the flop.

Each player then builds their best 5-card poker hand using the cards they have in their possession. The highest poker hand is a royal flush, which contains 4 matching cards of the same rank. A flush contains 5 consecutive cards of the same suit. A straight is five cards of different ranks, but from the same suit. Three of a kind is three cards of the same rank, two pairs is 2 matching cards of different ranks, and one unmatched card is a high card, which breaks ties.