Poker is a card game where players use five cards to create a winning hand. Each player has two personal cards in their hands and five community cards on the table. While a significant amount of the game is chance, there is still some skill involved in betting and reading other players.
To start a poker hand, each player puts in the ante. This is a forced bet that gives other players something to chase. The dealer then deals everyone cards one at a time. A white disk called the button (or buck) moves clockwise after each hand to indicate who is the nominal dealer.
Once everyone has their cards, the flop is revealed. From here on out the players can raise or check their hands. The player with the highest ranked hand wins the pot. Ties are broken by the highest card, which is used to determine who has a pair, a flush, or a straight.
The best poker hand is a royal flush which consists of a jack, king, queen, and ace of the same suit. A straight is 5 consecutive cards of the same rank. A full house consists of 3 matching cards of one rank and 2 matching cards of another. A high pair is two distinct pairs of cards. A high card breaks ties in the event of multiple high hands.