Poker is a card game in which players bet into a central pot based on the rank of their cards. The goal of poker is to form the best possible hand based on these rankings and claim the pot at the end of each betting round. This can be achieved by either forming an excellent hand or by bluffing and forcing weaker hands to fold.

The game of poker involves a great deal of chance, but the long-run expectations of players are determined by their actions chosen on the basis of probability, psychology and game theory. In addition to the initial forced bets, players place additional money into the pot voluntarily when they believe their bet has positive expected value.

Before dealing the cards, the dealer shuffles and cuts the deck. They then deal each player two cards face down. The player to their left acts first, and can fold, call or raise. If they call or raise, the next player in turn must do the same thing. Once all players have either folded, called or raised, the dealer “burns” one of the top cards and deals the first three community cards face up to the table (the flop).

After the flop, the remaining players may continue betting on the strength of their hands. In order to win the pot, players must form a five-card poker hand from their own two personal cards and the five community cards on the table. This hand must consist of at least a pair of matching cards, and is then compared against the other players’ hands.