Poker is a card game that can be played with 2 to 14 players. Generally, it involves betting in which players place chips (representing money) into a pot that is shared by the players who have raised or called bets during a round of betting. The highest-ranking hand wins the pot.
The cards are shuffled and cut, then dealt one at a time to the players, starting with the player to their left. Depending on the game, some cards may be dealt face up and some face down. Usually, players have to make forced bets, known as an ante or blind bet, before they can raise a hand.
When all the players have their cards, a round of betting takes place. After a betting round, if any player wants to replace any of the cards in their hands, they can draw additional ones from the deck. After the final betting round, all the remaining cards are revealed and the player with the best five-card hand wins the pot.
Unlike other card games, there are no suits in poker; the rank of a hand is determined by its probability (e.g., a pair beats any four of a kind). Ties are broken by the highest unmatched card or the highest secondary pairs (e.g., three of a kind beats two pair). There are many other card game variants that use poker rules and can be played with different numbers of players.