In poker you compete against other players for the best five card hand. There are many variations of the game but they all share a few common rules. The main ones are that each player has two cards which they can use to form a hand and that there are forced bets (called blind bets) made before anyone sees their hand. This creates a pot immediately and encourages competition. Once everyone has called a certain number of times the dealer puts three additional cards face up on the table which all players can use. This is the flop. After this there is a new round of betting. At this point any players who have a high enough poker hand can win the pot. This is called the showdown.

During the course of the hand players can say things like ‘call’ to put in the same amount as the person to their right or ‘raise’ to increase the size of their bet. This can be done in small increments, such as one dollar at a time or in large ones such as 10 dollars. The player to their right may say ‘fold’ meaning that they have no interest in playing their cards and wish to drop out of the hand.

When you play poker you should only gamble with money that you are comfortable losing. It is generally recommended that you have a bankroll of at least 200 chips. Observe experienced players and consider how they would react in a given situation to develop your own quick instincts.