Poker is a card game that involves betting and the gathering of cards to make a hand. While it requires some luck, skill is more important than chance when it comes to poker, and over time the application of skills can eliminate much of the variance caused by chance. Articles about Poker can entertain readers with personal anecdotes, describe different strategies used in the game, and teach players about tells (unconscious habits displayed by a player during gameplay that reveal information about their hand).

There are many variants of Poker, but most involve a single round of betting with raising and re-raising. The object of the game is to win the “pot” (a sum of all bets made in a deal) either by having the highest-ranking poker hand or by making a bet that no one else calls. The highest poker hand is a Royal Flush, which contains four matching cards of the same rank and five consecutive cards in a suit. The second highest poker hand is a Straight, which contains five consecutive cards of the same rank in a suit. The third highest poker hand is a Full House, which contains three matching cards of the same rank and two matching cards of another rank plus a pair.

To play poker, each player places an ante and is dealt five cards. Players then decide whether to hold their cards or fold. The first player to raise a bet is called the active player, and he must increase his stake by at least the amount raised by the last active player (this is known as equalization). If he declines to do so, he must discard his hand and may no longer compete for the pot.