Poker is a game of incomplete information where players bet with chips and aim to make the best five card hand. Each player has two cards dealt to them and there are five community cards that all the players share. The highest hand wins the pot. During each betting interval, a player may call (put into the pot as many chips as the previous player), raise (put in more than the previous player), or drop out of the game entirely (“fold”). A dropped player forfeits their rights to the original pot and any side pots that might be established.

The turn to deal and the turn to bet always passes clockwise from player to player. In some games, the first player to the left becomes the dealer and shuffles after each deal. If the game is played in a casino setting, the dealer will be a professional.

Some game variants use wild cards, which can take on any suit and rank a player wants them to. Most poker hands consist of five cards. A high card wins ties, and a pair or higher beats any single card hand. Four of a kind beats three of a kind or two pairs, and a flush beats all other card hands except high card. If the cards in a hand tie for rank, the higher ranking card breaks the tie, and the rules for high card break all other ties. Some games also have other special card combinations, such as straights and full houses.