Poker is a card game that involves betting between players. It is played with one or more cards that each player receives face down and five community cards. A player’s goal is to form the highest ranking poker hand by combining the cards in his or her own hand with the community cards. The highest hand wins the pot, which is the sum of all bets made during a betting interval.

There are many variations of Poker. Some games are played with more than 14 players, while others use a stripped deck without the deuces and treys. Players may make special rules, called house rules, for their games. These rules should be recorded and available to all players.

During a hand, each player must bet at least an established minimum amount. If a player folds during a betting round, he or she surrenders the right to win the pot to the player whose bet was higher. If two or more players have the same highest-ranking poker combination in their faces up cards, a showdown takes place.

Winning poker hands include a royal flush (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten of the same suit), a straight flush (5 consecutive cards in order, such as 5-6-7-8-9), four of a kind (4 matching cards of any rank), three of a kind (3 identical cards of any rank), and pair (2 cards of the same rank). Tied hands are decided by the rank of the next card in the hands.