Poker is a card game that involves betting between players and requires a high degree of concentration. The game is played with a standard deck of cards and a supply of chips, which are usually white in color. Each chip represents a specific amount of money: a white chip is worth one unit, or the minimum ante; a red chip is worth five whites; and blue chips are worth either twenty or fifty whites.

The game is contested in a circle of players around a table. Each player places his or her chips into a “pot” before betting begins. The pot is the total sum of all bets made during a given hand. The player who holds the best poker hand wins the pot.

In order to increase the odds of winning, a player must be aware of his or her opponent’s tells, which are unconscious habits that reveal information about a player’s hand. These tells can be as simple as eye contact or as complex as gestures.

Although no one likes to lose, in a game as psychologically intense as poker, the loss of a significant amount of money is doubly painful because it threatens something even more valuable than a bankroll: pride. The thought that an opponent might be stronger, smarter, or more talented than you is the ultimate humiliation, and the egos of many poker players will go to extraordinary lengths to protect against it.