Poker is a card game in which players compete to make the highest-ranking hand. It is a game of chance, but skill can improve your chances of winning. There are many different variations of the game, each with its own rules and objectives. Generally, all poker hands contain five cards and the highest-ranking hand wins. A standard deck of 52 cards is used for most games, although some may use multiple packs or include wild cards (jokers) in some cases. There are four suits in poker – spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs – and no suit is considered higher than another.
The highest-ranking poker hand is called a royal flush, which consists of a 10, King, Queen and Jack of the same suit. A straight flush contains 5 consecutive cards of the same rank but from more than one suit, while a full house is three matching cards of one rank plus two matching cards of another rank, and 2 pair consists of two cards of the same rank and three unmatched cards.
Before the dealing of each hand begins, each player must place a small bet into the pot – this is known as an ante. When the betting comes around to you, you can either call the previous player’s bet or raise it. If you say “raise,” you add more money to the betting pool and other players can choose to call your new bet or fold their hand.