Poker is a card game in which players place bets (called chips) into a central pot. The object of the game is to make the highest-ranking five-card hand possible from the seven cards you are dealt. This hand is made up of your two personal cards and the five community cards.

At the start of each betting round, one player – determined by the rules of the particular variant being played – is required to make a bet (called an ante or blind bet). The dealer then shuffles the deck, and the player on the chair to his right cuts the cards, which are then dealt to the players, one at a time, beginning with the player to his left.

Once the first betting phase is over, 3 cards are then dealt face up to the table (revealed to all players). These are called the flop. These are community cards which all players can use to create their best 5-card hand.

The next betting round begins with the player to the left of the button, and each player has the option of calling, raising or folding. A call means that you match the previous player’s bet and stay in the round, while a raise means you want to increase your bet amount by matching or more than the previous player’s offer. Folding forfeits the round, and is only done when you do not have a winning hand. There are also some situations where a player may put all of their remaining chips into the pot, which is called going All-in.