Poker is a card game that involves betting between players during one or more rounds of dealing. Each player has two cards, known as hole cards, that are dealt face down. Five community cards are then dealt in stages, starting with the flop and later adding the turn and river cards. Players can then make their best hands based on the cards they have and those exposed by the players before them. The game may also include the use of a joker (called the bug) that acts as a wild card or count as a fifth ace in certain hands such as straights or flushes.
The game of poker has many variants and betting strategies, including bluffing. A winning strategy usually combines aggression with sensible bluffing and good position play to increase the payout of strong holdings. Players also often use a variety of poker math techniques to improve their decision making, such as understanding pot odds and how they relate to the probability of a hand.
Beginners should start off by playing tight, avoiding crazy hands until they have a firm grasp on the basics of the game. This means only playing the top 20% of hands in a six-player game or 15% of hands in a ten-player game. Hands are viewed as good or bad only in relation to what the other player is holding. For example, a pair of kings is a great hand, but they will lose 82% of the time when played against another player holding A-A.
