Poker is a card game in which players place chips into the pot, representing money (or cash). Each player can then choose to raise or fold. Players can also exchange cards between hands.
A standard deck of 52 cards is used in most games, with some variants using more or less. The cards are ranked in ascending order from A to K, with the Ace being high. The suits are spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs, although some games allow jokers as wild cards of any suit. The highest hand wins.
The dealer takes the deck and deals one card face up to each player, starting with the player to his left. This position is known as the button. After each hand, the button passes to the next player clockwise.
Each player has two personal cards in their hand, plus five community cards on the table. They can make a best five-card hand from these cards in various ways, including Straights, Flushes, Three of a Kind and Two Pairs.
The best poker hands are made up of a combination of high-value cards and low-value cards. High-value cards include aces, kings, queens and jacks. Low-value cards include the remaining suits, forming a pair or two pairs. A pair consists of two matching cards, while two pairs consist of two matching cards and two other unmatched cards. A three of a kind is three matching cards of one rank. A full house is three matching cards of different ranks and two matching cards of another rank, while a flush is five consecutive cards of the same suit.