Poker is a card game for two to seven players played on a table with chips that represent money. Each player has the opportunity to place bets during a hand, with the winning player taking all of the chips in the pot. Players can also choose to fold, forfeiting the hand and dropping out of the game.
A hand is a group of cards that a player holds in his or her hands. The best hand is five cards of consecutive rank, such as a straight, or three matching cards of one rank, such as a pair. A player can also have a wild card that substitutes for any other card in his or her hand.
During each betting round, a player can choose to bet the amount that he thinks his or her hand is worth. A player can also raise the bet amount if he or she believes that the other players at the table do not have a good hand. This is known as bluffing.
The first player to act after the dealer deals out a hand must place an amount in the pot equal to the total contribution of the players before him. The player to the left of this first player is called the button, and the button passes clockwise after each hand. Depending on the rules of the specific game being played, a player may be allowed to cut the deck more than once.