Poker is a card game where players compete to form the highest-ranking hand of cards in order to win cash or chips. While luck plays a significant role in the outcome of individual hands, over time the application of skills can eliminate much of the variance caused by chance. Poker is often played in tournaments, with each player contributing an amount of money to the pot based on the number of chips they have. The most successful players rely on a combination of skill, psychology and game theory to make decisions during the game.

A betting interval ends when all players have either put in the same amount as their predecessors or dropped out. Once the betting intervals are completed, all remaining players show their cards and the player with the best poker hand wins the pot.

Players can choose to raise the amount they place into the pot by saying “raise.” This allows them to force weaker hands out of the game and increase the value of their own hand. They can also say “call” to match the previous player’s bet or to fold their hand.

Poker is a very fast-paced game that requires the ability to read your opponents’ tells. Tells are unconscious physical cues that reveal information about a player’s hand. They include eye contact, facial expressions and body language. This article covers the most common poker tells and how to spot them. It also discusses how implied odds affect your play in big-bet poker.