Poker is a card game in which players wager chips (representing money) against each other. The goal is to have the highest-ranking hand at the end of a betting round. The player who makes the best hand wins the pot. The winner may be one player or multiple players. There are a number of variations of the game. Each round includes one or more betting intervals, during which each player can call a bet made by another player, check if no money was raised since his last turn, or make an all-in bet, in which case he puts all his remaining chips into the pot.
In most forms of poker, each player is dealt two cards. A round of betting begins after all players receive their cards and then continues in a clockwise direction around the table. During the course of the round, additional cards can be revealed on the board, referred to as the flop, turn and river, which add to the possibilities for hands.
The rank of standard poker hands is determined by their odds (probability). A high pair, consisting of two distinct cards, beats any other pair. Ties are broken by the highest unmatched card or secondary pairs in a full house (three of a kind and a pair). The joker, in some versions of poker, counts as a wild card and can be used to form any pair or higher.
In some poker variants, blind bets must be placed in the pot before each player is dealt his cards. These bets are typically made by the players to the left of the dealer.