A card game in which players bet chips (representing money) on the strength of their own and other players’ cards. Each player has two personal cards (“the hand”) and five community cards. The goal is to make the best 5-card poker hand by betting on the flop, turn, and river (the three cards revealed during these rounds). The winner is the player with the highest poker hand.

Each player has a set number of poker chips, usually white or light-colored chips, worth the minimum ante or bet amount. Players can place these chips into the pot during a betting interval (defined by the rules of a particular poker variant). If a player cannot or will not call a bet with his or her own chips, that player can “drop” (fold), forfeiting those chips. Alternatively, the player can raise the bet by placing chips into the pot that are worth more than those placed by the player to his or her left.

A good poker story is not about the cards, but about how the players react to them. Detailed descriptions of cards drawn, bets made and checked, and reveals often feel lame or gimmicky. The best poker stories are those that tell the tale of a game played well, with rising action, eliminations, and the revealing of key players.