Poker is a card game for 2 to 14 players in which each player puts down chips before being dealt cards. The goal is to win the pot, which is all the bets placed during a hand. There are different forms of poker, and the rules differ slightly between them. But the main idea is to have the best 5-card poker hand at the end of a round to win all the money in the pot.
Before a hand begins the players must put down a forced bet called an ante or blind. The dealer then shuffles the cards and deals them one at a time to the players, starting with the player to their left. The players then take turns betting on their hands.
After the first betting phase a third card is put on the table that everyone can use, this is called the flop. A second betting round then takes place.
Once the flop and turn have been played another card is revealed to all the players, this is called the river. The final betting phase is then done.
The best hands in poker are a royal flush (ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of the same suit), a straight (5 consecutive cards of the same rank), four of a kind (4 matching cards of the same rank) or two pair (2 matching cards of different ranks and 3 unmatched cards called kickers). The worst hand is a high card.