Poker is a card game played by two or more players. Each player puts an amount of money into a pot (called a blind) before being dealt cards. When it is your turn to bet, you can either raise the betting or fold. The highest hand wins the pot.

The best way to win a game of poker is to extract maximum value from your winning hands and minimise losses from your losing ones. This is known as the MinMax strategy. To accomplish this, you must make wise decisions about when to call or raise and what type of hand to play. You can improve your odds of winning by learning about the rules of different variations of poker.

Each player starts with 2 personal cards which are then revealed in a round of betting called the flop. Then there are 3 more cards revealed in the community or shared deck which form part of everyone’s five card hand. Then there is a final round of betting which ends when a showdown occurs. If no player has a showdown then any additional wagers are placed in a side pot. Whichever player has the winning hand will win the main pot and any side pots that they have contributed to.

In a showdown the winning hand must be an Ace and either a pair or straight. Other valid hands include three of a kind, four of a kind and a flush. There is also a joker which counts as either an Ace or a straight or a full house but not in a five of a kind.