Poker is a card game in which players place chips representing money into a pot (usually called a “pot”) to compete for a high hand. Depending on the rules of the game, a player may have to put in an initial amount of chips (called forced bets) before receiving any cards. These bets can come in the form of antes, blinds or bring-ins.
Articles about Poker often refer to a wide variety of earlier vying games, not all of which are relevant to the genesis of the modern game. However, amongst the most likely immediate ancestor of Poker are Poque (French for ‘Pochen’), Gilet or Brelan (French, 17th – 18th centuries), Brag (18th century to present) and possibly Primiera (16th – 17th centuries).
A player’s turn to deal begins with any player taking a pack of cards and dealing them in rotation to their left, until a jack appears. The player who receives that card becomes the first dealer.
Each player has the right to raise, call or fold during his turn, according to the current betting structure. If you say “raise,” you’re adding more money to the pool of available bets and can expect other players to raise in response to your decision. Similarly, saying “call” means you’re matching the previous player’s raised bet and are staying in the hand. Saying “fold” means you’re dropping out of the round. Regardless of what you do, you must always be respectful and honest to other players.