Poker is a card game that is played between a group of players. Each player puts in a sum of money, called chips or cash, into the pot before betting begins. The game has many variations, and it’s important to understand the rules of your particular game before playing.
The first thing you need to know is that most home games are played for chips rather than real money. This is because chips are easier to count, stack, and make change with than actual cash is. Chips also have different colors that represent specific dollar amounts, which can help you keep track of how much you’re spending.
Each player starts with two cards. Then, depending on the game and rules, they may say something like “call” to put up a amount of chips equal to the bet made by the player to their left. Or they can say “raise” to put up more than the other player did. If a player doesn’t want to call or raise, they can fold and not participate in the current hand.
One of the most important things to do in poker is to look at what other people have in their hands. This will help you determine how strong your own hand is, and it will allow you to make moves based on what you think other people have in their hands. For example, if you know that someone is very conservative and rarely raises their bets, you can bet aggressively against them to make them fold early in the hand.
