When you play poker, your actions have consequences. The best poker players know how to disguise their tells. A tell is a physical sign of a player that other players can pick up on. These signs include twitches on the face or body, staring at the cards too long, or other nervous habits. Professionals often wear hats or sunglasses to mask their tell-tale eyes. This helps to fool other players into thinking that you are playing a different hand.

The game of poker involves betting with chips. Almost all games use chips, but it’s important to supply them if the game has more than seven players. A white chip is the lowest value; a red chip is worth five whites; a blue chip is worth ten, twenty, or fifty. In poker, each player purchases poker chips and puts them into the pot, usually in the same denomination as the previous player. These chips are called “buy-ins”.

After a round of play, all bets are gathered into a pot where the winnings from all the rounds are collected. This pot is called the “pot” and it holds the winnings of the players. The players who raise the most are said to be the active players. The winner is the one who bets the most money. But this also means that the players who call the bets are considered the active players.