Poker is a card game with elements of luck and chance but is also a game of skill and psychology. Players use bluffing strategies to minimize losses with poor hands and maximize wins with good ones. It’s a great game to play with friends, family or strangers.

The game is played with a standard deck of 52 cards (some games add a few jokers as wild cards). There are four suits, and the highest card wins. The order of the cards is: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Players place chips into a pot called the “pot” before the cards are dealt. The rules of the game may require that each player contribute an initial amount, called an ante, to start the pot. This can be any amount of chips, but the most common is a white chip worth one low-denomination chip.

There are usually two or more betting intervals before the “showdown” where each remaining player shows their hand face up on the table for everyone to see. The best Poker hand wins the pot.

If you don’t have a winning hand, it’s usually better to fold than continue to place money at a bad hand that won’t improve. You can also say “call” when it’s your turn to indicate that you want to match the last bet or raise. This helps to mix up the betting and encourage stronger hands while weeding out weak ones.