Poker is a card game with some chance involved, but it also has some skill and psychology behind it. The basic rules are very simple: you ante something (amount varies by game, ours is usually a nickel) to get your cards and then you can place bets in the middle of the table called the pot. The highest hand wins the pot at the end of the hand.

Each player is dealt 5 cards that determine their value and the higher of these five determines the winning hand. High cards break ties. There are many variations of the game and you can choose to play a different variation for fun or to learn more about the strategy of the game.

Once all players have their two cards, a round of betting is initiated by the players to the left of the dealer. The players can check, raise, or fold.

After the betting round, a flop is revealed, and a new betting round begins. If your hand is good, you can bet big to force the other players to fold and win the pot.

A full house is 3 matching cards of one rank and 2 matching cards of another rank. A flush is 5 cards of consecutive rank, but from more than one suit. Two pairs are two distinct cards of one rank and three other unmatched cards. If two hands tie on the pair or other ranks, then the high card breaks the tie.