Poker is a card game where players try to win money by betting on the strength of their cards. The player with the best five-card hand wins the pot, but there are other things that can happen. If nobody has a winning hand, the dealer wins. In the case of ties, the money is divided amongst the players.
The rules of poker depend on the variant of the game being played, but in all games there are certain basics that need to be understood by any serious player. There is a standard system for determining how much a player can bet or raise, called Pot Limit. This means that a player can only raise up to the amount that the person to his right has already raised.
Each round of poker begins with one player, determined by the rules of the specific game, making the first bet. All players must then place chips (representing money) into the pot that are equal to or greater than the amount placed in by the player before them.
As each player turns, it is important to try to guess what type of hand the other players have. This is not always easy, but experience will teach you to spot conservative players from aggressive ones. It is not a good idea to call high bets, especially from players that are known to bluff on a regular basis. Folding a bad hand is often the correct move and will save you money in the long run.