Poker is a card game that can be played with two or more players. It has a number of different variants, all of which involve betting and some form of matching cards.
The game is played on a table, with the players sitting around it. There is usually a dealer, and each player has 2 cards dealt face down to them. A round of betting begins with the player to the left of the dealer, who must call or raise the blind bets made by the players to his or her right.
During this phase, one additional card is dealt face up on the table, which is known as the flop. This triggers another round of betting and starts with the player to the left of the dealer.
A final card is dealt face up on the table, known as the river. There is one more round of betting before all the cards are revealed in a showdown, with the winner being the player who has the best 5 card poker hand.
This is a very skill-based game, and the most important thing to learn is to leave your certainty at the door. Even professional poker players make mistakes, but they are constantly making better decisions because they have developed a mental framework for understanding probability. This is a lesson that can be applied to many aspects of life, and it will help you avoid many of the most common pitfalls in decision-making.