A card game played by two or more players, Poker involves betting, bluffing, and making the best hand. It can be played socially for pennies, or professionally for thousands of dollars. The game has become so popular that it is played not only in private homes, but also in countless casinos and on riverboats and cruise ships.
Before the cards are dealt a player (on rotation per game) must make a contribution to the pot, called a blind bet. Each player then chooses whether to call, raise, or fold. A raise is a bet made by a player in turn that is higher than the last one. A raise is only possible if there are sufficient chips in the pot to cover the raise.
Two cards are then dealt to each player, face down. A round of betting then takes place based on the assumption that each player has a winning poker hand. Players can discard their cards & draw replacements from the draw stack or simply ‘hold pat’ if they do not have a good hand.
There are many different hands in Poker, ranging from the highest to the lowest. The highest is a Royal Flush, which contains ace, king, queen, jack and 10 of the same suit; followed by Straight Flush (5 cards in a consecutive rank but not all of the same suit); then Three of a Kind; and then two Pairs. In the event of a tie between two hands, the higher ranking of the pair wins (e.g. a pair of aces beats a pair of sixes).
In some Poker variants, the dealer may shuffle the cards once each betting interval has ended. If the dealer shuffles the cards and no one calls for a cut, then the pack is offered to the player to their left for a cut. During the cut the player who is cutting can take all of the cards that were held by their opponents or they can pass on the deal & leave the table.
After the first betting round is over the dealer deals a third card on the table that anyone can use (the community cards). Another betting round then commences. The dealer then puts a fourth card on the board that everyone can use for a final betting round.
After the final betting round is over, the cards are revealed & the highest ranked poker hand wins the pot. If there is a tie, then the hands are broken by their ranks (card for card) & not by suits (as in most other card games). Ties that include identical pairs (such as two pairs of sixes) are tied and the players split any winnings equally.