Poker is a card game played between two or more people with chips that represent money. The objective is to win the pot (the sum of all bets in a single deal) by having the highest-ranking hand at showdown. There are many variants of the game, but in most forms of the game, each player has four cards and may raise or check during betting intervals.
Players exchange cash for poker chips, which are usually red, white, black, or blue, but can come in other colors. The dealer assigns a value to each chip prior to the start of the game, and players place their bets in clockwise order until someone has raised the ante or every player has checked.
The players may agree to establish a fund called the “kitty” to pay for new decks of cards or for food and drinks. The players build up the kitty by “cutting” one low-denomination chip from each pot in which there has been more than one raise; any chips remaining in the kitty when the game ends are divided among those who remain in the game.
Good writing about poker involves capturing the emotions and drama of the game. Readers want to know who flinched and why, what bluffs worked and which ones failed. You also need to write descriptively, describing the physical tells of the players—their eyes, facial expressions, and body language. These details add to the realism and authenticity of the scene.