Poker is a card game with millions of fans. To write an article that appeals to them, you should concentrate on the story line and include anecdotes. You should also be descriptive and paint pictures in the reader’s head. If you are unable to do this, your article will feel lame or gimmicky.
Depending on the rules of the game, one or more players may be required to place an initial amount of money into the pot before cards are dealt. These are called forced bets and they come in the form of antes, blinds and bring-ins.
The game of Poker has many different variations, but the basic rules are similar. Each player is dealt five cards. The best five card poker hand wins the round. Sometimes there is a tie between the top two hands. In this case the tied players split the pot.
There are four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs), and the highest suit wins. Some games have wild cards which can take on any rank, and some use jokers as wild cards.
A pair is two matching cards of the same rank. A flush is 5 consecutive cards of the same rank, all from the same suit. A straight is five cards of consecutive rank, but from different suits. A high card breaks ties if no other hand has a pair or better. There are also a number of other poker hands which involve three or more unmatched cards.
