In poker, players place chips into the pot (representing money) each time they want to make a bet. There are several different types of chips, and each one represents a certain amount of money: white chips are worth the minimum ante or bet; red chips are worth either five or 10 whites; and blue chips are worth either 10 or 20 whites. Players must ‘buy in’ for the appropriate amount of chips before each hand starts.
When betting comes around to you, you can choose to call the previous player’s bet (putting your own chips into the pot), raise the bet by a certain amount (called raising) or drop out of the current hand. If you drop out, you can’t play the next hand until the betting interval is over.
When the betting gets around to you, it’s important to look beyond your own cards and try to predict what your opponents might have in their hands. This can help you avoid calling bets on weak hands, and it will also help you learn to read other players’ betting patterns, so that you can better determine what type of player they are. For instance, aggressive players tend to bet a lot when they have good cards, while conservative players will often fold early. In this way, top players are able to make moves that minimize the risk of losing money. By doing this, they maximize the probability of winning the game over the long run.