Poker is a card game that takes skill and psychology to play well. While chance plays a large role in the outcome of any individual hand, players make long-term decisions based on expected value and bluffing for various strategic reasons.

Once all players have two cards, a betting round begins. The player to the left of the dealer puts a mandatory bet into the pot called the blinds (these are not placed on the table but put into the pot from the players before you). Each player can then choose whether or not to call the blinds, raise them, or fold their hand.

When a player folds, they return their cards to the deck and the next player deals. The card dealing and betting passes clockwise from player to player around the table. At the end of the deal, any player may offer the shuffled pack to their opponent to cut (this is called the button position).

After the first round of betting is complete, another card is dealt face up called the flop. There is a second round of betting with the same rules as the first.

After the flop, any player can discard up to three cards. For example, Brad has a pair of kings so he discards two and has: Ks-Kd-Kc-4c-8h. A full house is made up of 3 matching cards of one rank and 2 matching cards of another rank. A straight is 5 consecutive cards of the same suit. A high card breaks ties.