Poker is a card game in which players place bets before being dealt a hand of cards. The goal is to form the best possible hand based on card rank, in order to win the pot at the end of each betting round. The pot is the sum of all bets placed by all players. Players can fold, check (avoid placing a bet), call (match another player’s bet), or raise (bet a higher amount than the previous player).

The rules of poker are relatively simple and easy to learn. The most important thing to remember is to never over-extend yourself. If you play too many hands and don’t have a good hand, you will lose money quickly. You also need to pay attention to other players and look for tells, which are subtle signals that reveal a player’s true strength or weakness.

There are four rounds of betting in poker: before the flop, after the flop, after the turn, and after the river. In each round, the players can choose to call, raise, or check. Alex deals himself a pair of kings off the flop. They aren’t great, but they’re not bad either. He checks, Charley calls, and Dennis raises a dime.

Now that everyone has called, the players will reveal their hands and the person with the highest hand wins the pot. The dealer will win the pot on ties and when nobody else has a high hand.