Poker is a card game played by a group of people sitting around a table and betting chips. The goal is to have the highest ranked hand when all the betting rounds are over. The winner of the hand wins the pot, which is all the chips that were bet during the round.

Poker can be a lot of fun and also teaches good decision-making skills. It is also a great way to socialize with friends and meet new people. Poker is a game of chance, but it can be made more skillful by using bluffing and reading the other players’ actions.

There are a variety of poker games, but they all have the same basic rules. The game is usually played with a standard pack of 52 cards (although some variant games use multiple packs or add jokers). The card values are determined in inverse proportion to their mathematical frequency; the rarer a hand, the higher it ranks.

During the betting phase, each player must either call the previous player’s raise or fold his hand. Those who want to remain in the pot must match or raise it, but they cannot win more than the amount that they staked.

The game is fast paced and often times players bet money at a rate that can quickly increase the value of the pot. Players can also pass on a bet by saying “check” and wait until it is their turn again.