Poker is a card game played by multiple players, usually in a circle. Players place forced bets into a pot, called the “pot”, before any cards are dealt. The person to the dealer’s left puts up a bet, which is often times called the “blind”. Once the blinds are placed, the dealer shuffles the cards and deals them out to each player. A round of betting follows, and the player with the best hand wins the pot.
During the poker boom of the early 21st century, the game became more popular than ever. The game was featured on television shows and had a large following. However, this also brought a lot of bad players to the table. People were making bets of thousands of dollars on hands they barely understood. It was a wild ride for everyone involved.
There are several different types of poker games and variations, but a common rule is that players place forced bets into the pot before being dealt any cards. Once the players have their bets in, they can choose to either raise their bet or fold. If a player wants to raise their bet, they must say “I call” or similar, and put in the amount of money that was raised by the previous player. Players who want to fold, do so by saying “fold”. Then the dealer will reveal a final card in the deck, which is known as the river.
