There are many variants of poker, but the core game is still the same: you’re dealt cards, and you bet over a series of rounds. At the end, you make a five-card hand and try to win the pot – the total of all bets made over the course of the round.

Each player “buys in” with a certain number of chips. The chips are usually colored to represent different amounts. A white chip is worth a single unit, or the lowest-valued amount, while a red chip is worth two or five whites. A blue chip is worth 10 or 20 whites, and so on. A dealer takes the bets and manages the chips in the pot. New players should ask for help if they are not sure how to do this, and more experienced players can often show them.

During each betting round you can either call or fold a hand. If you fold, you leave the table and no longer participate in that particular hand. You can also raise a bet to force other players to call and potentially make better hands.

The game requires a great deal of patience and discipline to play well. You must be willing to put in the time and effort to learn and develop your skills, as well as the discipline to play only with money that you’re willing to lose. This means committing to smart game selection and limits, and tracking your wins and losses over the long run.