Poker is a card game in which players place chips into a pot and bet on the strength of their hand. The best hand wins the pot. Players may raise, call or fold. The betting begins to the left of the dealer and continues clockwise.
You can increase your chances of winning by being the last to act. This allows you to control the price of the pot, allowing you to inflate it for a strong value hand or keep it small for a drawing hand.
Often, the poker dealer will warn players who are splashing the pot or otherwise disturbing gameplay etiquette. This allows the players behind them to avoid making a bad call or ill-advised bluff, and ensures that action can be properly transferred from one player to the next.
It is also the responsibility of the poker dealer to correctly distribute side pots after a player is all-in. They must also clearly communicate the amount of money in the main pot and the amount of money in the side pot(s).
The poker dealer can also play a key role in preventing cheating, which is a serious problem in some games. If a player is caught cheating, the poker dealer can warn them and even stop gameplay temporarily until they have been removed from the game. This can be particularly useful if the player is a habitual cheat who has been caught in the past. The poker dealer should also make sure that the players know they must not discuss the game or reveal any information about their hands to other players.