Poker is a card game in which players bet against each other by placing chips into the pot. The aim of the game is to make the best 5-card hand out of the cards you receive and the community cards on the table. The betting phase is followed by a showdown where all players reveal their hands and the winner collects the pot of money. The rules of the game are governed by a combination of chance, psychology and game theory. While the outcome of any particular hand largely depends on luck, professional players choose their actions on the basis of expected value and other considerations.

The first round of betting is triggered by the mandatory bets called blinds placed into the pot by two players to the left of the dealer. Once this is done, each player receives 2 hole cards. Then a further 5 cards are dealt on the table and another round of betting starts.

A pair consists of two cards of the same rank and one unmatched card. Three of a kind is 3 matching cards of the same rank and a flush is five consecutive cards of the same suit. A straight is 5 cards of sequential rank but different suits.

It’s important to keep an eye on your opponents’ chip stacks and betting patterns. Players who are short-stacked tend to move in more often and are easier to beat. Look for tight players and try to take advantage of their fear of losing their chips by min-raising (up to 2 big blinds) from late position and stealing as many pots as you can postflop.