Poker is a card game that involves betting, and it requires skill to win. It also involves reading your opponents and psychology. Some people think that the object of the game is to have the best hand, but it’s more about beating your opponents.

To play poker, you need a deck of cards and chips. A standard poker game usually has seven or more players, and each player buys in for a fixed amount of money. The highest bidder wins the pot. The game is typically played in rounds, with raising and re-raising allowed.

Each round has one or more betting intervals. A player’s turn to bet is determined by the position of a token called the dealer button. The button rotates clockwise among the players to indicate a nominal dealer for each betting interval. The right to deal a hand and the option to call or raise passes from one player to the next.

Players can also use a special fund called the kitty. The kitty is built up by “cutting” (taking) one low-denomination chip from each pot in which there has been more than one raise. This money belongs to all the players equally, and it is used to pay for new decks of cards and food and drinks for the table. Any chips remaining in the kitty at the end of the game are returned to the players.

Every poker player has a tell, or unconscious habits that reveal information about their hand. These can be as simple as a change in posture or as complex as a body language gesture.