Poker is a card game played by two or more players. Each player puts in a forced bet (called an ante or blind bet) before the cards are dealt. After the cards are dealt, a series of betting rounds take place. At the end of each round, all bets are gathered into a central pot. If the best hand wins, the winner takes all of the chips in the pot. In the case of a tie, the rank of the highest card decides which hand wins.

Poker involves a lot of uncertainty. As a result, it’s very easy to confuse luck with skill. People who lose with a weak hand often attribute it to skill, saying things like “I knew that was coming!” But in reality, they weren’t making a good decision and they should have folded.

Players can choose to call or raise during a betting interval. They can also fold if they don’t have strong cards or want to sit out of the current round. This is known as being tight. Tight play is a sign of good strategy because it means that you don’t risk losing more money than you can afford to.

In addition to bets, a small amount of money is collected from each player by the dealer into a fund called a kitty. This is used to pay for new decks of cards, food, drinks, and so on. Players usually establish the kitty by agreeing to “cut” one low-denomination chip from each pot in which there is more than one raise.