Poker is a card game of chance and skill. Players compete to make the best five-card hand from a standard 52-card deck. There are many variations of the game, but they all tend to have a common structure. Each player puts money into the pot for each round of betting, & the player with the highest-ranked hand wins all of the accumulated bets.
Before each round of betting begins, players must post a small & a large blind. These bets are posted by the players to the left of the Dealer (D). Two cards are then dealt to each player, face-down. These hidden cards are called that player’s hole or pocket cards. Then a series of betting rounds begins, with the player to the left of the big blind making the first bet.
A player may call, raise, or drop out of the betting phase. By dropping out, a player forfeits his or her right to the accumulated pot. If a player chooses to raise, they must bet enough money to match the amount that was raised by the player before them.
A player can also check the pot, which means that he or she does not want to call any more bets. However, if another player raises, the checking player must either call or fold. Players use chips to place bets. They are usually white, black, or blue, and they are assigned specific values by the dealer prior to the start of each game.