Poker is a card game in which players place bets into a pot for each round. The player with the best 5-card hand wins the round and the money placed in the pot. There are many different variants of Poker, but they all share certain aspects.

In most of these variants, one or more players are required to make forced bets – either an ante or blind – before cards are dealt. Players then place their bets into the pot in turn. A player who makes a bet that exactly matches the previous player’s bet is said to call, while a player who bets more than the last player is said to raise. In some variants, a player may choose to check (not bet) instead of calling or raising.

The cards are dealt in a series of prearranged face-down and face-up rounds, or streets, with a betting round between each. There are several ways to form a winning hand, including the straight, flush, and three of a kind. The highest hand is a royal flush, consisting of four Aces.

Ties are broken by the highest pair, and ties within pairs are broken by the higher unmatched card. In games with wild cards, the highest five of a kind wins (five aces beats five kings, etc). In addition, there are various ways to make a high-low pair, which is a low-ranking hand that can win if nobody has a higher pair.