Poker is a card game in which players place bets (called chips or money) into a common pot before dealing themselves cards. The player with the highest five-card hand wins all the money in the pot. Players can discard one or more cards or “hold” them. In some cases, a player may put all of his or her remaining chips into the pot, which is called going all-in.
The highest poker hand is a royal flush, which includes a pair of matching cards of the same rank and two unmatched cards of another rank. A straight contains 5 consecutive cards of the same suit, such as all spades or all hearts. A full house is made up of three matching cards of the same rank and two matching cards of different ranks, while a pair consists of two matching cards of the same rank.
During a betting interval, the player to the left of the dealer can either call a bet or raise it. The player to the right of the dealer must either match the raised bet or fold. If a player folds, he or she does not participate in the next betting interval.
The turn to deal and the turn to bet pass clockwise around the table. The person to the left of the dealer is known as the button and has the privilege or obligation to make the first bet. The button also has the right to shuffle the cards, although this is usually done after each betting interval.