Poker is a card game with millions of fans. To write an article that appeals to this audience, focus on the people at the table, their reactions and the by-play that occurs between them. For example, who flinches when someone makes a big bet or grins at their luck when they hit the nut?

When playing poker, players place chips into a “pot” at each betting interval. The player with the highest ranked five-card hand wins the pot. The bets are made by each player in turn, starting with the person to their left.

Once each player has two cards, there is a round of betting (initiated by 2 mandatory bets called blinds put into the pot by the players to the left of the dealer). After this, the fifth and final card is dealt face up and there is another round of betting.

There are various categories of poker hands and each one is stronger than the others. For instance, a full house beats any straight and a three of a kind beats a pair. Each category is ranked from high to low, with an Ace being the highest card and a Two being the lowest. Some games also have wild cards (jokers) that can take the rank and suit of any other card. A straight contains 5 cards of consecutive rank, a flush 5 of the same suits and a three of a kind is 3 matching cards of the same rank.