Poker is a card game in which players make bets with cards that are dealt by a dealer. There are many different variants of poker, each with different rules and betting strategies. The game involves a combination of skill and chance, with luck playing a smaller role than skill over time. A good poker player should know how to read other players’ tells, which are unconscious habits that reveal information about a player’s hand. These can be as simple as fiddling with a ring or as complex as eye contact.

In a typical round of poker, each player receives 2 cards and then makes a bet, placing chips into the pot equal to or larger than the previous player’s bet. Each player can also raise their bet, adding more chips to the pot and requiring other players to either call or fold. If they choose to fold, they give up any money they have put into the pot that round.

The highest poker hand is a Royal Flush, which consists of four matching cards of the same rank and five consecutive cards of the same suit. The second highest poker hand is a Straight, which consists of 5 cards that skip around in rank but are all from the same suit. A Full House consists of 3 matching cards of the same rank, and 2 matching cards of another rank, while a Pair consists of two cards of the same rank and three other unmatched cards.