Poker is a card game with betting that can be played with 2 to 14 players. Each player places a bet into a pot, or shared pool of money (the buy-in). There are various rules for how to raise and call bets, and how to fold a hand. The player with the best five-card poker hand wins the pot of money.
The game has many different variants, but most use a standard 52-card pack with ranks (high to low) of Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10. There are four suits, with spades being high and hearts, diamonds and clubs being the lower ones. Some games also have wild cards or jokers that can take on any suit and rank.
A basic poker strategy involves playing your own hole cards and observing your opponents. The goal is to gain information about your opponents and exploit it. Successful players make small bets to keep the pot growing, while raising when they have a strong hand. They can also try to trick their opponents into thinking they have a weak hand by acting nervous or bluffing.
The most common poker hands are pairs, three of a kind and straights. Ties are broken by the highest pair, then by the high card, and so on.