Poker is a card game that involves betting. During each betting round, players can check (pass on putting chips into the pot), raise (add more money to the bet that their opponents must match or fold) and call (match a previous player’s raise).
Once betting is complete, the dealer will reveal the final community card. This is called the River and it can change the hand for the better or worse. At this point, players will be asked to show their cards and the player with the highest hand wins the winnings.
A Full House contains three matching cards of one rank and two matching cards of another rank. A Straight contains 5 cards that skip around in rank or sequence, but they are all from the same suit. A Flush is five cards of the same suit. A Three of a Kind is three cards of the same rank plus two unmatched cards. A High Card breaks ties.
Being a good poker player is all about reading other players and picking up on their tells. A tell is an unconscious habit or idiosyncrasy that can give away information about a player’s hand. These can include facial expressions, body language, gestures and betting behavior. For example, if a player usually calls but then suddenly makes a big raise, this may indicate that they have an amazing hand. Being able to spot these tells can help you improve your own poker game!