A card game of chance and skill.
Poker is a game where the twin elements of luck and skill are required to win. However, over time, the application of skill will virtually eliminate the variance that comes from luck alone. This is how the game became so popular.
Before the deal begins each player must put an amount of chips into the pot, called the ante. Once the cards are dealt there is a round of betting that begins with the player to the left of the dealer. The first player to bet may either call that bet or raise it. A player who calls the bet exactly puts in the same amount as the previous player and a player who raises does so by adding more than the total stakes of the players to his/her left. A player may also drop, or fold, which means they put no chips into the pot and discard their hand.
During the betting phase it’s important to pay attention to your opponent’s patterns. While many poker “reads” come from subtle physical tells such as scratching your nose or playing nervously with your chips, a large portion of reads are made from their betting patterns. For example, if a player always calls or folds early then it’s likely that they are playing some pretty crappy cards and are easily bluffed into folding. On the other hand if a player is a risk-taker and bets high early in a hand then they are probably holding some good cards and can be a tough read.