Poker is a card game of skill, strategy and chance. It can be played between two and seven players. It is usually played with a standard deck of 52 cards, but some games allow the use of wild cards.
When playing poker you place chips into the pot when it is your turn to act. This helps create a pot to be contested by other players. It also helps to keep the betting fair. Each player needs to have a certain number of chips to play and they can purchase these at the beginning of the game. Typically, white chips are worth the minimum ante amount; red chips are worth 10 or more whites and blue chips are worth 20 or more reds.
Once all players have two hole cards there is a round of betting. This is initiated by the 2 mandatory bets called blinds put in by players to the left of the dealer. Once everyone has had a chance to bet and check the dealer will then deal 1 more card face up on the board, this is called the turn.
The player with the highest ranked poker hand wins the pot. To make a high quality poker hand you must be able to read your opponent. This can be done through subtle physical poker tells but it is generally based on patterns such as how often a player bets and folds. Advanced players try to anticipate their opponents range of hands and only play strong hands against them.