Poker is a card game played with chips that represent money. The game combines elements of chance and psychology, with players making decisions based on expected value and the strength of their hands. The most successful players maximize their winnings by minimizing the amount of money they lose with weak hands and by bluffing when they have strong ones.

The game is normally played with a minimum of seven players. Each player buys in for a set number of chips (representing money) to start the hand. Each player takes turns betting on their cards.

When a player has a strong hand, they will raise the betting by putting more chips into the pot than the previous players. If they have a weak hand, they will check (not place any chips into the pot) until it is their turn again.

In most poker variants, one player (designated by the rules of the game) has the privilege or obligation to make the first bet in a betting interval. Each player must place enough chips in the pot to meet or exceed the total contribution made by the players before them.

A player may say “call” if they want to call the amount that was bet on the last turn. If they have a good hand, they can also raise the bet by saying “I raise.” This is done to force other players into folding their hands. By unanimous or majority agreement, the players in a poker game can establish a special fund called the kitty. This is used to pay for new decks of cards and for food and drinks. The funds in the kitty are distributed to the players who still have chips in their hands when the game ends.