Poker is a card game in which players bet against each other. There are many different versions of the game, but they all have a common goal: to win the pot.

The game begins with a dealer who deals each player a hand of cards, usually five cards face down. A betting interval is followed by the first round of play, during which each active player has the opportunity to make a bet or raise their existing bet. After the round, each hand is revealed, and the player with the highest-ranking poker combination wins.

A hand is ranked in inverse proportion to its frequency of combination with other cards; the more unusual it is, the higher the hand’s rank. The lowest hand is 6-4-3-2-A in two or more suits, and the highest is a pair of aces.

Each player begins the game with an amount of money called the ante, which is added to the pot before the cards are dealt. The ante is typically a fixed amount, but it may be raised or lowered in later betting intervals.

There are also forced bets, which require the players to place an initial bet before the cards are dealt. These bets may take the form of an ante, a blind bet, or a bring-in bet.

The player who is closest to the dealer’s left is the first bettor. In each betting interval, the first bettor must bet at least the minimum established by the rules; later bettor may check (i.e., make a bet of nothing) or raise (i.e., call) the bet of the previous bettor.

Several rounds of betting are played before the final showdown, in which the hands of all players are shown. If all but one player folds, the remaining bettor collects the pot without having to reveal their hand.

Another important aspect of the game is the use of chips. The chips are generally of a standard color, with white chips being the lowest-valued ones. The chips may be divided into sets of different denominations, with each set being worth a certain number of white chips.

The chips are placed in a special pot, known as the kitty. The chips in the kitty are used to pay for new decks of cards or for other items needed by the players during the game. The kitty is usually built up by cutting one low-denomination chip out of each pot in which there is a raise.

There are also some side pots, in which each player can make a bet. These side pots are often a way to increase the pot size for players who win the main pot by having the best hand.

A player who bluffs is trying to deceive others by betting that they have a superior hand, when in fact they do not. They may do this by making a bet that is too high to call, or by not calling a bet if they are holding a weak hand.