Whether you’re playing for money or just for fun, poker is an exciting game of chance. But be careful – it’s easy to get carried away & lose more than you can afford. To prevent this, play only with money you can afford to lose. Also, keep track of your wins & losses so you can see if you’re winning or losing.

The first step in any poker game is putting up a small amount of chips called the ante or blind bet. Players must do this before they are dealt cards. When everyone has their cards, they can decide to stay in the hand or fold. If they choose to stay in, then the next round of betting begins.

There are many variations of poker, but they all involve a similar process of placing chips in the pot before showing your cards. The player with the best five-card hand wins the pot.

Some of the cards are visible to all players, while others remain hidden until the final showdown. Most poker games consist of multiple rounds of betting, where you can either check – which means passing on the next round of betting – or raise your bet.

When you have a strong poker hand, it’s important to know when to raise your bet. For example, if you have pocket kings on the flop and an ace comes up, then it’s probably time to fold. But if the board is full of straight cards or flushes, then your pocket kings might still make a good poker hand.