Poker is a card game that involves betting between players and the raising and folding of hands. The aim is to minimize losses with poor hands and maximize wins with good ones. The game can be played with any number of cards and a variety of betting rules. Local customs and preferences may influence the game, but a written code of poker laws should be used as the final arbiter in settling any questions.

A dealer is responsible for dealing the cards to the players and shuffles the deck between deals. He or she also keeps track of the pot size and may collect an initial contribution, called an ante, from each player to start the pot. In addition, the dealer can enforce the game’s rules and settle disputes between players.

In some games, a fixed limit is set on the amount that a player can bet. This helps to prevent large swings in the pot. The game can also be played in a fixed-blind format, where players must bet blind or raise to make it worth their while to play.

Several types of poker chips are available, typically in white, black, red, and blue, though other colors are sometimes used. A dealer assigns values to these chips prior to the game’s start, and players exchange cash for the chips in a process called “buying in.”

A player must have at least one white chip to bet. Usually, the higher the value of a chip, the more a player has to bet.

Each round of poker is interrupted by a betting interval. When the betting is done, all players reveal their hands and the highest hand takes the pot. If no player has a high hand, the remaining players split the pot.

The game can be played with any number of people, though the number of players affects the strategy employed. With more players, it is common to use a “blind” bet, where the player to his or her left places a bet before anyone else has the opportunity to act. This is an effective way to limit risk and prevent other players from seeing a strong hand before they make a decision.

A strong poker hand consists of five cards. The best hands are a straight, flush, or full house. A full house consists of three matching cards of the same rank and two matching cards of another rank, while a straight consists of five consecutive cards that skip around in rank but are all from the same suit. A flush consists of all five cards of the same rank. A pair consists of two cards of the same rank and one unmatched card.

When deciding whether to bet, it is important to consider the other players’ hands and how much they are likely to bet. If the player to your immediate right bets a lot, you can say “I call” to make a bet equal to or greater than theirs.