Poker is a card game in which players place bets on the outcome of a hand. It is a game of chance and skill, with elements of psychology and game theory. The game originated in the late 1700s and early 1800s and is believed to have developed independently from other card games and gambling.

Players start with a fixed amount of chips. Typically, each player has a stack of 200 or more white chips. Each chip is worth the minimum ante or bet. When a player runs out of chips, they must leave the table and buy more before returning to play.

After each player has received 2 cards, there is a round of betting that begins with the player to their left. After the betting phase, 3 additional cards are dealt face up in the center of the table and are called the flop. Players then use these cards to build their own 5-card hands.

The highest five-card hand wins the pot. A full house contains three matching cards of one rank and two matching cards of another, while a flush contains 5 consecutive cards of the same suit. The lowest hand is a pair, which consists of two cards of the same rank and three unrelated cards.

During a hand, players can say “call” to bet the same amount as the person before them or “raise” to increase the previous raise. When no one calls a bet, the player can “check” and pass on betting for that round.