Poker is a card game played by two or more players and involves betting. The object of the game is to win a pot, which is the sum total of all bets made in one deal. The game can be played with any number of players from 2 to 14, but the ideal number is 6 or 7.
The first round of betting in Poker begins when all players have received their 2 hole cards. This is triggered by mandatory bets called blinds put into the pot by the players to the left of the dealer. The player with the highest hand wins the pot.
In Poker, hands are ranked according to their odds (probability). The highest hand is a royal flush which consists of 5 consecutive cards of the same rank in two or more suits. A straight is five cards of successive ranks in two or more suits. A four of a kind is three matching cards of the same rank and two unmatched cards. A pair is two cards of the same rank.
If a player has a strong hand, they will raise their bet to force weaker hands out of the pot. Otherwise, they will fold their hand. A player can also call the last bet made by an opponent, in which case they will match the amount of money placed into the pot and must either fold or call again in the next betting interval.