Poker is a family of card games where players compete for a pot of money. It has a long history and is played all over the world, with different rules in various regions.

The main goal of the game is to create the best hand possible using five cards from your own hands and four cards from the table. The player with the highest hand wins the pot.

To play poker, all you need is a deck of cards and chips to stand in for money. The standard deck consists of 52 cards, each with four different suits: hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds.

1. Ante: In poker games, a player is required to make a forced bet in the form of an ante before any cards are dealt. The ante is a fixed amount and is typically the minimum bet allowed in the game.

2. All-in: In poker, a player is all-in when they push all of their chips (or cash) into the pot. The term all-in is often used interchangeably with the word “call.”

3. Big blind: In some poker games, the first two players to sit down to a game require a forced bet prior to any cards being dealt. The player to the left of the dealer is called the small blind and the player to his right is the big blind.

4. Betting rounds: In poker, the action usually involves several betting rounds. After each round, all players must either match the previous bet or fold.