Poker is a card game where a player makes bets with his chips. In each betting interval, a player must bet and raise a certain amount of chips. When a player is forced to fold, he loses his chips in the pot. The action then moves to the left player in the table.

Generally, a hand is a combination of two distinct pairs of cards, as well as a fifth card. The highest pair wins. A second pair wins in ties. The high card breaks ties when no one has a pair. A high card also breaks ties when more than one person has the highest hand of the same kind.

One of the most important poker rules is to protect your hole cards. This is important because information is the most powerful weapon in poker. If you take a card from the table, it will give away your poker hand and others may see it. This will make it more difficult to win a hand. By avoiding this, you will have a better chance of winning.

In addition to hands that are worth a high number of chips, poker hands can also be of low value. For example, a pair with four fours wins if all of the cards are the same rank. Another hand called a high pair has all of the cards of the same suit, while a straight flush has five cards of the same suit.