Poker is a card game in which the players compete to form the best-ranked hand of cards. The winner is the player with the highest-ranked hand, and the pot is the sum of all the money bet during the hand. In the event of a draw, the pot is split evenly between all the players.
In standard poker, all players use the same community cards, as well as two “hole” cards. Each player selects five cards from this deck to form his or her hand. If all players check or raise, play continues. If all players call or fold, the game ends. This is called the Showdown. After the Showdown, the players reveal their cards and the winner of the pot takes the money. The winner of the pot is the player with the best five-card hand.
A winning hand is determined by the highest value card and the second-highest card. The highest value card starts a Straight Flush, and the next highest-value card gives the total value of the hand. Usually, there are five to seven players at a table. Bets are placed in front of each player.
There are several ways to form the best hand. A four-of-a-Kind hand is four cards of the same rank plus a high card. If two four-of-a-kind hands are tied, the high-card hand wins. If there is no tie, a five-of-a-kind hand, or three-of-a-kind hand with the highest card wins.