Poker is a game where players bet into a pot of money. The person who gets the highest hand wins the pot. If two or more people have the same hand, the high card breaks the tie.
A poker hand is made up of five cards, ranked from Ace to Ten. Players have a choice of betting, raising, folding, or checking. After the initial round, players are dealt cards one at a time. This is called the draw phase.
At the start of the round, the player left of the button (also called the dealer) has to post the small blind. When the button moves clockwise, the next player has to post the big blind.
The dealer then deals the cards to all the players. These cards are face up. Each player has two cards in their hand. Some games have specific wild cards, but most poker games use the standard pack of 52 cards.
Once all the players have been dealt their cards, the next round begins. In some games, players can discard as many as three of their cards, while in other games, players can only discard one.
The dealer cuts and shuffles the cards. Before the game starts, the dealer assigns values to the chips. Usually, the chips are blue or green.
A bet is placed into the center of the pot. It is then re-bet on each round of play. Depending on the game, the ante is usually the minimum amount of money that players must pay before the hand is dealt.