Poker is a game of chance and skill. There are a few rules that must be followed and strategies that can be learned to improve your chances of winning. This article is meant to be a primer into the basics of poker and should not be used as a substitute for reading a book on the game or joining a group of people who play and help each other learn.

In most poker games one player, determined by the rules of the particular variant being played, has the privilege or obligation to open betting. Players then take turns in clockwise order, either calling or raising the previous player’s bet. The player who raises the highest bet wins.

After the betting round is complete the dealer deals three cards face-up on the board that everyone can use. This is called the flop. It is at this point that you can start to narrow down what other players may have in their hands. For example, if someone checks after seeing the flop you can guess that they probably have pocket aces.

While it is impossible to know what every player has in their hand at any given time, there are a few basic hands that will win more often than others. Those include a pair (two matching cards of the same rank) and a three of a kind (3 cards of the same rank and two unmatched cards). A straight is five consecutive cards of different ranks that are all from the same suit.