Poker is a card game with many variants, played by two or more players with cards and chips. The aim of the game is to make a winning hand of five cards. Players can also bluff, betting that they have a good hand when in fact they do not, hoping to win by making other players call their bet or concede defeat.
In Poker, the highest-ranking hand is a royal flush (a 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of the same suit), followed by four of a kind (4 of the same rank plus an ace), three of a kind (3 of the same rank plus an ace), straight, and two pairs. If two players have equal hands of the same type, their ranks are determined by the next card in each hand. If a player has two identical pairs, the pair with the higher ranking wins.
Depending on the rules of a particular game, one or more players may be required to place an initial amount of money into the pot before the cards are dealt. This is called a forced bet and comes in the form of an ante, blinds, or bring-ins.
Once the cards have been shuffled, each player must decide how to play their hand. In most Poker games, the first player to act places a bet into the pot. Players can then choose to raise the bet, match the previous bet, or fold their hand. Players can also choose to stay in the game without placing a bet, a practice known as checking.