Poker is a card game with a large amount of skill and psychology involved, especially when betting occurs. It is a game of chance, but bluffing is an important part of the game and utilizing it properly can lead to significant profits.
To play the game, players must ante up an amount of money (the size of which varies by game and is usually no more than a nickel). Then they are dealt cards. After everyone calls or folds, the betting begins. The player with the highest hand wins the pot.
A poker hand consists of five cards. The value of a hand is in inverse proportion to its mathematical frequency; the more unusual a combination of cards, the higher the hand rank. Players may call with superior hands, bluff with inferior ones, or play conservatively until the river, when they may bet heavily to try and steal the pot.
The most common poker hands are pairs, three of a kind, four of a kind, straights, and flushes. Pairs consist of two cards of the same rank; three of a kind contains three cards of the same rank; and a straight consists of five consecutive cards of the same suit. When hands tie, the highest card breaks the tie, unless it is a pair or better. High card also breaks ties when no one has a pair or better. If a pair is equal in rank, the highest suit breaks the tie.