Poker is a game of skill, and the only way to make consistent money over the long run is to play against players that you have a significant edge over. This means picking the right stakes to play at, and choosing games with the most favorable game format.
Once you have these basic foundations in place, it is time to learn the game itself. There are many poker learning resources available online and off. There are a large number of poker forums, Discord channels and Facebook groups to visit, and there are also hundreds of poker programs you can use to practice and train your game.
The basic game of poker is played using chips. Each player purchases a certain number of chips at the beginning of the game, and each chip has a specific value. White chips are worth the minimum ante or bet; red chips are worth five whites; and blue chips are worth twenty-five whites.
Poker hands are classified as either high, low, or nothing (the worst possible hand). A full house is three cards of the same rank plus two matching cards of another rank. A flush is five consecutive cards of the same suit. A straight is five consecutive cards in sequence but not in rank. And a pair is two distinct cards of the same rank. The highest card breaks ties. In the event that nobody has any of these hands, the pot is split evenly between all players.