Poker is a card game played against other players. Each player puts down an amount of money (called “buy-ins”) and is dealt two cards. The aim is to make the best five card hand using your own two cards and the five community cards. You then bet, trying to get the other players to fold. The best hand wins the pot.
Each round starts with one player placing a bet of a certain number of chips into the middle of the table (the “pot”). The players to his left then have the option to call, raise, or check. If they check, they must place a bet of at least the amount raised by the previous player. A player may also “drop” their hand, which means that they forfeit any bets they have already placed.
Some variants of poker require players to make a blind bet before being dealt their cards. This is rotated around the table each round, and can replace or be in addition to the ante.
Unlike most games, poker is typically played with poker chips. Each chip has a different value, with white chips representing the lowest value and red the highest. The size of the chips is determined by the rules of the specific game. Poker tournaments are competitions with many matches, each with a small number of competitors. These are common in sports with limited competitors, such as team sports, racket sports, combat sports, and some card games and board games.