Poker is a card game where players place bets with chips (representing money) in order to win the pot at the end of each betting round. The goal is to form the best possible hand based on the cards you have, compared with the other players at your table.

To start playing poker, you’ll need a set of poker chips. The standard denominations are white chips worth one unit of the minimum ante or bet, red chips worth five units and blue chips worth 10 units. Some games may also use other colored chips to represent different amounts. When you begin, it’s a good idea to start at the lowest stakes. This way, you can practice your skills without spending a lot of money.

When you’re ready to play, each player “buys in” by placing a number of chips into the pot, called the ante or bet. Then, each player has the option to either call the bet, raise it or fold. If you raise the bet, other players must put in enough to match your bet or more. If you fold, you won’t put any chips into the pot and will not participate in that round of betting.

After the first betting round is complete, the dealer deals three more cards to the table that anyone can use. These are called the community cards and they’re used by everyone still in the hand to make a decision about whether to call, raise or fold.

Once the flop is dealt, the remaining players can call, raise or fold. If you have a strong poker hand, you can often raise your bet and increase the size of the pot. However, if your hand isn’t good, you should probably fold.

A flush is a hand that contains five consecutive cards of the same suit. If you have more than one flush, the highest-ranked card wins. A straight is a poker hand that has five consecutive ranks of cards that are not all the same suit.

You can also have three of a kind, which is two matching cards of the same rank and another pair of unmatched cards. A full house is a poker hand that consists of three matching cards of the same rank and two unmatched side cards.

To be successful at poker, you must have a lot of patience and be able to make smart decisions. This can be difficult, especially if you’re a beginner. But you can improve by learning from the pros and focusing on making the right decisions. In addition, it’s a good idea to watch videos of professional players like Phil Ivey to see how they deal with bad beats and other stressful situations. Just remember that you’ll lose some hands and that’s okay. Just keep playing and you’ll get better over time.