Poker is a card game that is played for money or just for fun. The game combines skill and luck to make winning hands. The game can be played as cash games or in tournaments. In either form the same basic strategies apply.
A hand consists of five cards. The player must choose the best cards from their own two hidden “hole” cards and three community (shared) cards to make a high-ranked Poker hand. Players must also compete with the other players to place chips into the pot (representing money) in order to win. Each player must raise the stakes at least once during each betting interval.
Before the players receive their cards, one of them must place an ante into the pot. This person is known as the “button” and is moved around the table after each hand. The player to his left must then “call” the button’s bet in order to participate in the next betting interval.
Some poker variants require a blind bet in addition to the ante. This bet is made by the players to the left of the button and rotates around the table each time a new hand is dealt.
Many of the best poker novels focus on the by-play between the players during the course of a hand. It is important to know about poker tells — unconscious habits displayed by a player during play that reveal information about their cards. For example, a player who is bluffing will usually blink their eyes rapidly or hold their hands over their face to conceal a smile.