Poker is a card game played between two or more players and involves betting and showing cards. It is a game of chance, but winning hands can be predicted using probability theory and psychology. It is also a game of skill, whereby a player can learn to read the betting patterns of other players.
In some versions of the game, a small amount of money is put up before the cards are dealt, called an ante. Once the cards are dealt, a round of betting takes place, and there are usually 2 mandatory bets called blinds placed into the pot by players to the left of the dealer.
A player can choose to “call” a bet (put into the pot at least as many chips as the player who made the bet), raise it, or drop (“fold”) his hand. If a player drops, he loses any chips he has already put into the pot, as well as his chance to win that particular hand.
After the flop, one more card is dealt face up, which is known as the turn. A new round of betting begins, and it is now possible to make a five-card hand. A flush contains any 5 cards of the same rank. A straight contains 5 cards of consecutive rank, but can be from more than one suit. A three of a kind is made up of 3 matching cards of the same rank, and a pair consists of two cards of the same rank plus one unmatched card.