Poker is a card game where players bet against each other on the value of their poker hand. It is played with a normal deck of cards (a 52-card set) and plastic or ceramic discs called chips. The chips stand in for money, but the players can also use cash.

The game begins with a small bet, called the ante, which is usually determined by the table. After a player has placed an ante, they are dealt two cards that are kept secret from other players. They can then fold, check, or raise their bets at any time during a betting round.

After the initial deal, the players take turns studying their hands and deciding whether they want to play. Then, they discard the cards that they do not wish to use and take new ones from the top of the deck.

A player’s hand is ranked according to the frequency of its combination of cards; the more unusual the combination, the higher its rank. The best hand wins the pot.

Poker can be played in hundreds of different variations, but the basic rules of play remain unchanged. In most games, there are several betting rounds between the initial deal and the final showdown.

After a betting round, the bettor who has been last in the pot is required to put in the same amount of chips as their opponents have. If no opponents call the bettor’s bet, or if they fold instead, the hand ends and the bettor wins the pot.