Poker is one of the world’s most popular card games. You can play poker online or at a real casino for pennies or matchsticks, or you can win thousands of dollars in professional tournaments. The underlying skill of poker is maximizing your winnings while minimizing your losses.
Poker rules can vary widely, but they are generally based on the same basic rules. Each player begins with a certain amount of chips, called “buy in.”
Players can bet or raise on each betting round until every player calls or folds. If all but one player folds on any round, a showdown occurs, where the hands are shown and the winner is declared.
A standard 52-card pack, sometimes with the addition of one or two jokers, is used to deal the cards. The first dealer assembles the cards from the pack, shuffles them, and then places them to the left of his seat. When the next dealer takes over, the shuffled deck is passed to him and the new cards are dealt.
Each player begins with a set of poker chips (usually colored white or light red for home game tournaments, with the values ranging from T$25 to T$1000). The host determines the value of each chip by color.
The game is played with a series of betting rounds, each involving the ante, the blinds and a small amount of the pot. Betting is made clockwise, with each player having the option to fold, call, bet or raise.
