Poker is a card game that involves betting between two or more players. It is played with cards and chips and has many variations. The game is often fast paced, with players putting in bets continuously until one player has all of the chips or the other players fold. The game can be played in cash games, tournaments, or both.
Some variants of poker require players to make forced bets, called antes or blinds. These bets happen before each player is dealt cards and can be either an amount equal to or less than the value of a player’s hand. Some poker games also have rules for how these bets are made, and how they are collected into a central pot.
A poker hand consists of five cards. The highest ranking hand is a Royal Flush, which consists of four matching cards of the same rank and five consecutive cards of the same suit. The second highest poker hand is a straight, which consists of five consecutive cards of the same rank. Other poker hands include a three of a kind, four of a kind, and a pair.
A player may raise a bet in their turn provided that no other player has raised a bet since their last turn. Otherwise, a player may “check.” This means that they do not wish to raise the bet and will not place any bets in that betting interval. However, a player who checks must call any bets that are raised.