Poker is a card game in which players wager chips (representing money) on the outcome of a hand. It is a game of chance, but skill also plays an important part in winning. Players can use their knowledge of other players to make decisions about raising, calling, and folding. They can also bluff, betting that they have a high-ranking hand when they do not.

The game is usually played with a small group of players around a table. The cards are dealt in rotation, and the dealer position (called the button) moves clockwise after each hand. The player to the left of the button places a bet, and each subsequent player may either call that amount or raise it. The player who makes the highest-ranking hand wins the pot, or sum of all bets made during that deal.

A hand consists of five cards. Its value is in inverse proportion to its mathematical frequency; the more unusual the combination, the higher the rank of the hand. The most common poker hands are pairs, straights, and flushes. Pairs consist of two cards of the same rank, and straights contain five consecutive cards of a single suit. A flush contains any 5 cards of the same rank, and a full house is 3 matching cards of one rank and 2 matching cards of another rank.

The game is fast-paced, and the players bet in turn until someone has all the chips or everyone checks. A player can only raise a bet by an amount equal to or higher than the previous player’s bet.