A poker tournament is a competition in which players make bets with chips to win a prize. There are many different games of poker and each has its own rules. Some are played with one person around a table while others are played in groups of people. In most cases, players have a set number of chips and they place their bets on the table until someone has all the chips or everyone folds.

When it’s your turn to act, you can call (match the bet made by the player before you) or raise (increase the previous bet). You must say “call” if you want to play the hand that you are dealt.

After the players have their two hidden cards, there is a round of betting, started by 2 mandatory bets called blinds put into the pot by the players to the left of the dealer. Then, 1 more card is dealt face up. This is the flop.

Then the players can choose to keep their cards or discard them and draw new ones. The highest ranked five-card poker hand wins the pot. Players may also bluff, betting that they have a strong hand when they do not. This is known as a bluff and can win them the pot if players with weaker hands call their bets. A good poker player tries to read other players’ tells – their eye movements, idiosyncrasies, betting behavior etc. – to understand how they play and be more effective.