In poker players place chips into a pot to compete for the highest hand of 5 cards. During the betting round each player has the option to check (not place any money into the pot), raise (bet more than the previous active player), or fold. Eventually, the highest hand wins the pot. There are many variations of the game, but all require a certain amount of skill, strategy, and luck.
After the initial forced bets are made (depending on the poker variant), one or more cards are dealt face up on the table, known as the flop. The flop contains community cards that anyone can use with their own two personal cards to make a poker hand. The flop usually starts with three of the same rank and then moves in suit sequence. A flush consists of five consecutive cards of the same suit. A full house consists of 3 matching cards of the same rank and 2 matching cards of another rank. A pair consists of 2 matching cards of the same rank, plus 1 unmatched card.
The strength of a poker hand is often concealed during betting. For example, if you have pocket fives and the flop comes A-8-5 then people will probably assume you have a strong hand and will bluff at you less. Understanding your opponents’ range and knowing how to read them is a huge part of poker. Over time you can develop an intuition for numbers like frequencies and EV estimation.