Poker is a card game that involves betting. It is a table game that can be played with any number of players, but most games are for two to eight people. The object is to win the pot, which is all of the money bet by all players in a particular round. The player with the best 5-card hand wins the pot. If no one has a good hand, then the pot is split among all players who have a pair or better.

At the start of the game, each player “buys in” with a set amount of chips. Depending on the variant of poker, each white chip is worth a certain amount; a red chip may be worth 10, 25, or 20 white chips; and blue chips can be valued at 14, 30, or 50 white chips.

During the first phase of betting (called the pre-flop), each player is dealt 2 cards face-down, hidden from all other players. These are called that player’s hole or pocket cards. Three more cards are then dealt face-up on the center of the table, known as the flop. This opens a new betting phase, and players can now judge the strength of their hands and compare them to those of other players based on how they bet.

Players can now check, call, raise, or fold. In general, it is a good idea to raise your bet when you have a strong hand and to fold when you have a weak one, because this will prevent you from losing too much money.