The Basics of Poker

The game of poker involves betting and bluffing to win a hand. There are many different poker games, but they all share the same basic rules. In most of these games, the object is to win a pot of money by getting the highest-ranking poker hand. Players may raise their bets in order to encourage other players to call them, or they can bluff by betting that they have a better hand than they actually do.

Typical poker hands include high pair, two pairs, three of a kind, straight, and flush. A royal flush is five consecutive cards of the same rank, such as four aces and a queen. The highest-ranking hand is a full house, which includes 3 matching cards of one rank and 2 matching cards of another rank (such as 4 kings and a queen).

In some games, one or more players must place an initial amount of money into the pot before the cards are dealt. This is known as a forced bet. Typical forced bets are called antes, blinds, and bring-ins.

When it is your turn to act, you can say “call” or “I call” to make a bet equal to the previous player’s. You can also say “raise” if you want to raise the previous player’s bet. You can also fold if you don’t have a good hand.

One of the most important aspects of poker strategy is making decisions under uncertainty. In poker, as in finance and other fields, this means estimating the probabilities of different outcomes.