Poker is a game of cards and chips that involves betting. There are many different variations of the game, but they all involve dealing a set of cards to each player and then betting on those cards. The highest hand wins the pot. Some games also have wild cards, which can take on any suit or rank.
The game is usually played with a standard deck of 52 cards, although some use multiple packs and some add jokers (or whatever the specific variant specifies). There are four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs), and each card has a rank. Aces are high, kings are low, and the rest are ranked according to their numerical value.
Most poker players make their money by winning the pot, which is the aggregate of all bets during a given betting interval. During this time, each player can choose to call, raise, or drop. A player who calls or raises a bet must put in as many chips into the pot as his or her predecessors did, but may not bet more than that. Players who do not call or raise a bet are said to “drop,” and may not participate in the next betting interval.
Some poker players use a variety of mechanisms to misinform other players about the strength of their hands. They may raise bets to deter opponents from calling, and they may bluff to encourage their opponent to fold before “showdown,” when each remaining player reveals his or her cards. Some poker games have a “kitty,” into which each player contributes one low-denomination chip. When the game ends, any chips that remain in the kitty are shared equally by all players.