Poker is a card game played by two or more people. Each player has five cards and the player with the best five-card hand wins. In addition to the basic rules there are many variants of poker, some of which can be quite complicated. It’s important to understand the rules of the variant you’re playing in order to make good decisions.

Each betting interval, or round, begins when a player bets one or more chips. The players to their left can choose to “call” the bet by putting in the same amount of chips or to raise it. Alternatively they can “drop” (fold) which means that they will put no chips in the pot and discard their hand.

When a player raises their bet, they must say “raise” so that other players know what to do. They can also “call” (match the previous bet amount) or fold. If a player folds they must turn their cards face down and are out of the betting round until the next deal.

After the initial bet, the dealer will deal three cards face up on the table. These are called the flop. Each player still in the hand can then decide to call, raise or drop.

The player to their left will then start flipping their cards over one at a time with the objective of beating the high card in the middle (which is known as the kill card). This involves trying to get a pair, a straight or a flush.