Poker is a card game that becomes more of a game of chance when betting is introduced. However, there is still plenty of skill and psychology to the game as well.
In the game of poker, players bet into a pot in the middle of the table. The player with the highest hand wins the pot.
Before a hand begins, each player must “ante” a small amount of money (this varies from game to game; our games typically use a nickel). Once everyone has anted, the dealer deals each player two cards. Once everyone has their two cards, they can either call (put into the pot the same amount as the previous player), raise (put in more than the previous player), or fold (drop out of the current hand).
The goal is to get a poker hand that will beat all other hands. The best poker hands are full houses, straights, and flushes. A full house contains 3 matching cards of one rank, a pair contains 2 matching cards of different ranks and 2 unmatched cards, and a flush includes any 5 consecutive cards of the same suit.
The easiest way to improve your poker game is to study the cards you are dealt. Pay attention to how other players are betting and try to guess what kind of poker hand they might be holding. If you can make educated guesses about the type of hand the other players might have, it will help you to make better decisions when deciding how much to bet in a particular spot.