Poker is a game that requires risk and offers an opportunity to reap rewards. The goal is to extract maximum value from your winning hands and minimise losses when you have a losing hand. This strategy is called MinMax (minimise losses – maximise wins).
The card game of poker has hundreds of variants, but all follow the same objective: to make the best five-card hand. It is played from a standard pack of 52 cards, plus one or two jokers in some games. The suits are spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. Each suit is ranked differently, and the highest cards win.
Each player is dealt two cards, and then a betting round takes place. The player with the best 5-card hand wins the pot, or all of the money that was put down as buy-ins during that betting round.
Some variants of poker require players to make a blind bet before they are dealt their cards. These bets are typically made in the same fashion as an ante, and the players take turns making them.
During the betting rounds, each player can choose to call, raise, or fold their cards. To call, a player must match the amount of the last bet, or more. To raise, the player must bet more than the previous player did, or at least equal that amount. To fold, a player must discard their cards and not participate in the current hand. If a player chooses to do so, they are not required to return their cards or chips to the dealer before the next hand.