Poker is a card game in which the twin elements of luck and skill are both required to win. However, over time the application of skill can virtually eliminate the variance of chance. The basic strategy involves having a high-quality hand of five cards. This includes the two cards you hold in your own hands plus the five community cards revealed on the table during each betting round, known as the flop, turn and river. If you hit all the needed cards on the flop, turn or river to make your hand, you win the pot.

Depending on the rules of the game, one or more players are required to put an initial amount of money into the pot before the cards are dealt. This is called the forced bet and comes in the form of antes, blinds or bring-ins.

The dealer shuffles the cards, the player on the chair to his or her right cuts, and then deals each player a number of cards (the exact process depends on the variant). After the first deal, the first of what may be several rounds of betting begins. Bets are placed into the central pot by calling, raising or folding. In some situations, players will place all of their remaining chips into the pot in a single move called an all-in.

Good poker players rely on their experience and intuition, but they also have to be able to read their opponents well. They often pick up on tells, which can be as subtle as a change in posture or as obvious as a facial expression. These tells can be used to exploit weaknesses in the opponent’s strategy. For example, if a player seems to bluff too much, his or her opponents will know to call more often, forcing the player to expose their weakness.