Poker is a family of card games in which players bet on the relative strength of their hands. The game’s rules vary slightly from one variation to another, but the basic idea is the same: a complete hand of five cards is compared to the other players’ hands in one betting round, with raising and re-raising allowed.

The game requires skill and the ability to read the other players. A good poker player can minimize their losses with bad hands by bluffing, or win a pot by calling bets when they don’t have the best hand. This requires a certain level of comfort with taking risks, which can take time to build.

Each poker game starts with an initial contribution, called the ante, which is placed into the pot before the cards are dealt. Some variations of the game also require blind bets, which are placed into the pot after the ante, but before the players receive their cards.

After the antes are placed, each player receives two cards face down and five community cards on the table. The goal is to make a best possible poker hand of five cards by using the two personal cards in your own hand and the five community cards. The best poker hands contain the highest combinations of card values and suit. If you don’t have a strong poker hand, it’s often best to fold rather than continue betting money at a weak hand.