Poker is a card game played by a number of players. Players place their bets in a central pot. The highest poker hand wins the pot.

Poker is usually played with a standard deck of 52 cards, though some variants use multiple packs. Cards are ranked from Ace to Ace. For a five-card hand, the best hand is the highest one with two pairs of identical cards and a fifth card.

A player can call or raise a bet by placing chips in the pot. Once a player calls a bet, all other players must fold. They can drop their chips from the pot, or they can stay in the game by checking without putting money in the pot.

When the last round of betting is complete, a showdown occurs. This is the moment when the cards are revealed to the players. If a player is all-in at this point, he takes the pot. Otherwise, the pot is split among the players who contributed to it.

Before the first round of betting, each player must make an ante. This is a small bet all players must make before the card hand is dealt. Some games have a fixed amount of ante.

The chips are generally white or red, although dark-colored ones are worth two, four or five reds. These chips are used to pay for the new deck of cards.

In three-card brag, players are allowed to raise if they have a better chance than the other players. However, raising is not always allowed. It is usually considered bad form to raise a hand that isn’t good off the deal.