Poker is a card game that takes skill and strategy to win at. The goal is to get the best five-card hand possible at the end of the game.
The game begins with one or more forced bets (often called antes). After these bets are made, the dealer deals cards to each player, starting with the player on the left of the table.
Players then take turns betting, often in rounds of betting. Each round of betting ends when the total amount of money bet by the last player in the betting interval equals that of the first player in the betting interval.
After each betting round, the bets are gathered into the central pot, which is shared by all active players. The player with the highest hand wins the pot.
Poker is played with poker chips, which are usually numbered from low to high and color coded according to their value, for example, white is the lowest unit. Red and blue are the next highest units.
The rank of standard poker hands is determined by their odds, and two or more identical hands tie and divide any winning equally. When two fours of a kind with the same rank qualify, the rank of the fourth card outside the hands breaks the tie.
There are 10 basic ways to win in poker, from the lowest to the highest: a high card, a pair of cards, two pairs, three of a kind, and a straight or flush. The strategy list for each type of poker is a cheat sheet that ranks the different ways to win, from best to worst, so you know which ones to play.