Poker is a card game that involves betting and the ability to read your opponents. A skilled player will minimize losses with bad hands and maximize their winnings with good ones. The game can be played in many ways, and the rules vary slightly from one place to another. However, the basic principles are always the same.

The players put an initial bet, either a blind or an ante, into the pot before they are dealt cards. The cards are then dealt in a sequence of rounds, called streets, with a round of betting between each deal. The final hand is revealed and the player with the best hand wins the pot.

Most games of Poker require the dealer to shuffle the cards and cut them once or more. Then he will deal them to the players, starting with the player on his right. The turn to bet and the right to cut pass clockwise around the table.

A player can raise a bet, call a bet or fold their hand. They may also re-raise their bet after someone else has raised on them. If they fold their hand, they give up all the money that they have bet that round.