Poker is a game where one person plays against another player and whoever has the best hand wins. The hands consist of five cards, and the higher card in any pair wins the hand. Occasionally, players will make a “bluff” by betting that they have the highest hand, which will win if the other person matches the bet.
The stakes in poker can be raised multiple times. In theory, each raise can double the stake. However, this is usually only allowed for a certain number of raises. The stakes usually become too big after three or four raises, and doubling the stakes any further can cause a player to leave the game due to lack of funds. Therefore, historical poker house rules typically limit stake raises to the previous raise amount.
The game is played in rounds, each player making an ante (a small bet that determines how much money is needed to enter the game). The dealer will deal two cards to each player. After each player has been dealt two cards, they must decide whether to bet, fold, check, match, or raise.
Poker is played with five to seven players. The game is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. Variants sometimes add jokers or use more than one deck. The cards are ranked Ace high to Ace low. The highest-ranking hand wins the pot.