Poker is a card game played from a standard deck of 52 cards. There are many variations of the game, but they all play from a common set of rules. Some games add a few cards called jokers to the pack, which can be used as wild cards.

Typically, the game has two players at each table. These two players, or the dealer, shuffle the deck before dealing each player a hand.

The player with the highest hand wins, or takes the pot (the amount of money accumulated by betting on each deal). However, sometimes players bluff, trying to fool their opponents into thinking they have a better hand than they do.

In some forms of poker, the player can choose to fold, which means they don’t make a bet and will be removed from the action for the round. Others can choose to check, which means they don’t make – or call – a bet but are still in the betting interval until the next round of cards comes around.

If there are more than one player who has the best hand, then a showdown takes place where each of the players’ hands are revealed and the highest-ranking hand wins. This is usually the case in cash games, but there are also games where a showdown doesn’t take place until all of the players have folded.