Poker is a game of chance, where players bet on their hands to win a pot. The player with the best hand wins the pot. Players bet in a series of rounds, until all players fold or call. A poker game is played with a standard pack of 52 cards. There are hundreds of variations of the game, but most of them follow a set of basic rules.

Before the game begins, the dealer assigns a value to each chip. This is called the ante. The ante is a small amount all players must put into the pot before the cards are dealt. Some games require a higher ante.

Cards are then dealt in a series of face-down and face-up rounds. Each player gets two cards at a time. After the draw, the dealer cuts the cards. In the next round, the betting is done between the newly dealt cards.

When the last round of betting has been completed, the player with the best hand will win the pot. If there are more than one player with a hand in contention, a showdown will take place.

The highest hand wins the pot, except in the case of a tie. Ties are broken by a high card. For example, if several people have a pair of kings, but a single person has a queen, the high card breaks the tie.

The best hand is the hand that has the highest five-card combination. Some games have special wild cards, which can be used to make any suit.