Poker is a card game in which players place an initial amount of money into the pot before being dealt cards. This is called an ante or blinds, and is done in order to give players an incentive to participate. There are many different rules and variants of poker, but most games share the same basic structure.
A player begins the hand by putting up a bet (the amount varies by game). Players then reveal their hands and betting continues clockwise around the table. The highest hand wins the pot. Players can choose to either call or fold. Some players also try to deceive their opponents by bluffing.
The highest-ranking poker hand is a royal flush, which contains a 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of the same suit (spades, diamonds, hearts or clubs). A straight contains five consecutive cards of the same rank. Three of a kind is made up of 3 cards of the same rank, and a pair consists of two identical cards.
If no one has a high pair or higher, the highest single card wins the tie. The higher the card, the more value it has. A high card also breaks ties in other hands that do not have pairs or better. Some poker games include jokers, which have no rank but can act as any type of card. Some poker variations have specific wild cards, but they are usually not used in the simplest games.