Poker is a card game in which players place chips into the pot that other players must match or fold. Players may also bluff, betting that they have a superior hand when in fact they do not. This is called a false tell, and it can lead to costly mistakes.

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck. Each player must ante something (amount varies by game, our games are typically a nickel), and then be dealt two cards. There are then a series of rounds of betting. The highest hand wins the pot, which contains all the bets made during the round.

After the first betting round, one more card is dealt face up, which is the flop. Another round of betting begins with the player to the left of the dealer, and then a final card is dealt face up in the showdown – the river. The highest hand wins the pot, which has the value of all the bets that were made during the final betting round.

Writers of poker articles need to be well-versed in the rules of the game and its many variants. In addition, they must be able to understand the psychology of the game and read players’ tells, such as body language, idiosyncrasies, hand gestures, betting behavior, etc. It is also helpful to be familiar with tournament structures, as these determine how much time the game will take before it concludes.