Poker is a game in which players compete to make the best 5-card hand using their own two cards and five community cards. Each player has chips (money) to bet with, and in each betting round a player may choose to place his or her money in the pot by calling, checking, raising, or folding. The outcome of a single hand depends significantly on chance, but over the long run players make decisions that are based on probability, psychology, and game theory.
After one or more forced bets (the amount of money a player is required to put into the pot as dictated by the specific poker variant being played) each player is dealt two cards that are hidden from the other players. These are referred to as the player’s hole or pocket. Players are then given the opportunity to discard and take new cards from the deck. Three cards are then dealt face up at the center of the table and are known as the flop. Players can then build a five-card hand using their own cards and the flop.
Depending on the game variant, there may be multiple rounds of betting, and in each round a player can choose to raise his or her bet by placing a low-denomination chip in the pot. In some games, a “kitty” is established to collect these raised chips, and when the game ends any chips remaining in the kitty are split among the players.