Poker is a card game in which players make bets and raise them over a series of betting rounds. The player with the best five-card hand wins the pot. Each poker variant has slight variations in how this happens, but the core of the game is always the same.

In most cases, each player is required to put in a forced bet before seeing their cards, known as an ante or blind. This creates a pot immediately and encourages competition.

After a player places their bet, the dealer will shuffle and cut the cards. The player to the right of the dealer then begins revealing their cards in order. Each player’s goal is to beat the highest card in the middle to win the hand.

Once the first round of betting is over, the dealer will deal three more cards face up on the table. These are called community cards and anyone can use them to form a poker hand. Once this second betting round is over the dealer will put a fourth card on the board that anyone can use, this is known as the turn.

During the river, the last betting round of the hand, the dealer will reveal the fifth and final community card. The players then get another chance to bet, check, raise or fold. If no one has a winning poker hand the pot is awarded to the player who raised the most bets in the final betting round.