Poker is a card game in which the players compete with each other for the highest hand. Each player receives five cards in a hand and must make the best combination of those five cards. Some poker games also allow other cards to be used in the hand, such as a joker. The highest hand wins the pot.

There are four main types of poker. Typically, all cards are dealt face up. They can be replaced by another, or shuffled. This is done by a dealer.

Cards are ranked from Ace to ace. Players may discard up to three cards. Ties are broken when one or more people have the same high card.

When there are ties between identical poker hands, the next high card breaks the tie. If two or more players have the same high card, the tie is broken by the second highest unmatched card.

When a hand is tied, the player who has the highest pair of any type wins the ties. Other than pair of jacks, the lowest pair is the pair of aces.

All poker variations contain a betting interval. In each interval, a bet is placed by a player. This bet is then matched by the other players. After the bets are matched, the player with the best hand is awarded the pot.

A poker game can involve as few as two players or as many as seven or more. However, the ideal number is six or eight players.