Poker is a card game of chance that involves betting, raising and folding. It can be played with two to seven players and is typically played using chips that have different values based on their color. Players buy in for a set amount of chips at the beginning of the hand, and then place bets on their hands in rounds of betting. These bets are not initially forced; each player voluntarily puts money into the pot when they believe their bet has positive expected value or have other strategic reasons for making it.

The cards are dealt face up or down, depending on the variant of poker and the rules of play in question. Players must use all of their cards in order to form a winning hand. There are several different types of hands: a pair is two cards of the same rank, three of a kind is three cards of the same rank, four of a kind is four cards of the same rank, and a flush is five consecutive cards of the same suit.

Bluffing is a large part of the game, but beginners should avoid bluffing too much until they develop some basic skills with relative hand strength and understanding what other people might have in their hands. Being in position helps with this because you’ll have more information than your opponents when it’s your turn to act, which will allow you to make more accurate bets based on what you think your opponent is holding.