Poker is a card game in which players place chips into the center of the table to represent their bets. The player with the best 5-card hand wins the round and all of the money that was placed as buy-in at the table. Sometimes there will be a tie and the players will share the pot equally.

The first step to playing poker is to learn the rules. The basic rule is that each player must make an initial forced bet (either the ante or blind) before they are dealt their cards. After the forced bets are made, the players may decide to call, raise or drop their hands.

After the initial bets are placed, the dealer shuffles the cards and deals them to the players one at a time starting with the seat to their right. Depending on the game, the cards can be dealt face-up or face-down. A player can also choose to draw replacement cards at this point if they wish.

When it is a player’s turn to act, they can either say “call” (put the same number of chips into the pot as the player to their left) or “raise” (bet more than the previous player). If they raise, the other players will usually say “call” or “raise” with them to stay in the hand. If they are unwilling to match the raised amount, they will say “drop” and forfeit their rights in the current pot.