Poker is a card game in which players place bets with their cards. Typically, the highest hand wins the pot. However, some variations of the game may award the pot to the player with the lowest hand. For example, some games do not consider flushes or straights, and instead divide the pot between the highest and lowest hand.

Each round of betting starts with a mandatory ante or blind bet. The dealer then shuffles and cuts the cards and then deals one or more cards to each player. These cards are often face-up, but sometimes they are dealt face-down. This is a common feature of many forms of the game. Each player can make multiple bets during the game and can also make a bet equal to the previous bet.

The dealer in poker is generally not one of the players. A token is used to indicate the dealer, and the token rotates clockwise from hand to hand. After the first round of betting, each player is dealt seven cards. In seven-card stud, the best hand is a five-card combination. The players then reveal their cards and the best hand wins the pot.

In many poker variants, there are different betting intervals. In most games, at least six to eight players will take part in a poker game. The pot, which is the sum of all bets made by all players, is determined by the highest poker hand. A player may win the pot by making a bet which no other player calls.