Poker is a card game played by two or more players and involves betting. There are many different poker variations but they all share certain similarities. One of these similarities is that there are several different ways that a player can act on their turn.

Each round of poker begins with each player putting an initial contribution, called an ante wager, into the pot. Then three cards are dealt to each player. The player will then look at their hand and determine whether to place a play wager equal to the amount they put as the ante or to fold their hand. Optimum strategy dictates that the player should play all hands higher than queen, six and four and fold all hands worse.

When a player says “call” it means they want to make a bet equal to the amount that the person to their left raised in the previous betting interval, or to stay in the hand by raising their own bet. The term “raise” is used when a player wants to increase the size of their bet.

The best hand wins the pot. The best hand is a Royal Flush which consists of all five cards of the same suit. The second best hand is a Straight which contains 5 consecutive cards of the same suit. The third best hand is a Full House which consists of three matching cards of one rank and two matching cards of another rank.