The game of Poker is a card game that requires skill and luck to win. It is played between two or more players with each player placing his or her bets into a central pot at the end of each betting round. There are various forms of Poker and the rules vary slightly between them. The best 5-card hand wins the pot. Occasionally there will be a tie between the best hands and in this case the players with those hands split the pot.
When it is your turn to bet, you can say “call” to match the last bet or raise. If you are raising, you must be able to cover all other players’ call, or else fold your hand. If you don’t want to raise, you can say “check” instead.
As the betting in a hand continues, you can also say “raise” to add more money to the pot. This will cause other players to either call your new bet or fold their cards.
When all the cards are revealed, each player’s hands are compared. The highest ranking hand wins the pot. The highest hand is a Royal Flush (Ace, King, Queen and Jack of the same suit). Other high hands include three of a kind, straight, and two pair. Two pair consists of two matching cards (e.g., two sixes) and one unmatched card. If a player has no pair, he must fold his cards.