Poker is a card game in which players place bets against other players. The game involves a substantial amount of chance, but also requires some knowledge of probability, psychology, and strategy.
Each player begins the game with a fixed number of chips. The chips are usually worth different amounts: A white chip is worth the minimum ante or bet, while a red chip might be worth ten or twenty whites. During a betting round, each player may choose to call, raise, or fold his or her hand.
After the betting phase, the players reveal their hands and the player with the best hand wins the pot. Then, a new round of antes and blinds begins.
There are many variants of poker, but most of them follow the same objective: win the pot by forming the best five-card hand. A flush contains any five consecutive cards of the same suit; a straight has five cards that skip around in rank or sequence but are all from one suit; and three of a kind is two matching cards of one rank, plus two unmatched cards.
As with many card games, it is possible for the skill differences between players to become more pronounced as the stakes increase. This is due to the fact that players self-select into a certain level of play based on their perception of their own ability: better players tend to play for higher stakes, while worse or beginning players may feel more comfortable playing at lower levels.