Poker is a card game where players compete to make the best 5-card hand. There are a few different variants of the game, but most follow a similar format. Players are usually dealt two cards each, which they can use in combination with the five community cards to create a winning hand. Depending on the rules of the game, players may also draw replacement cards after a betting round or after the flop is revealed.
Each player puts a small amount of money into the pot before betting begins. This is called the ante, and it is usually equal to one white chip. There are also other colored chips that have values, such as a red chip worth five whites. During the betting round, players can choose to either match or raise the previous player’s bet. They can also check, which means they are not raising their own bet and are still in the hand.
Once the bets are complete, the players reveal their hands and the person with the best hand wins the pot. The winnings are then distributed among the remaining players. It is common for players to agree before the game starts on a method for sharing the money when the game ends. This can help ensure that players are not left with nothing even if they don’t win the pot. It can also help to avoid the problem of self-selection into stakes levels, where better players tend to play for higher stakes than weaker or beginning players.
