Poker is a card game that can be played by two or more players. The object of the game is to win the pot, which is the sum total of all bets placed during a deal. A player may bet any amount of money and can call, raise or fold. The highest hand wins the pot. There are many variants of poker, but they all have the same basic rules.

The game can be played by any number of people, but it is most often played with 6, 7 or 8 players. The game is fast-paced and each player acts in turn to place bets. Players can also “check” if they don’t want to raise the stakes, meaning that they will pass their turn to act until it comes back to them.

After everyone has received their 2 hole cards, a round of betting takes place called the flop. This is initiated by the 2 mandatory bets (called blinds) put into the pot by the players to the left of the dealer.

During the flop, there are five community cards dealt face up and you must use them to form a best 5 card poker hand. There are many different hands that you can have, but the highest hand is the Royal Flush. This is a hand consisting of a 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of the same suit. The second highest hand is a pair, which is two cards of the same rank.