Poker is a card game that can be played by two or more players. Its objective is to win the pot, which consists of all bets made in one round. This may be done by having the highest-ranking hand or by bluffing, which involves betting in a way that suggests your hand is better than it actually is in order to encourage other players to believe it and fold instead of taking you on in a showdown.

Most forms of poker require one or more forced bets at the start of each deal, called a blind bet and/or an ante. After these bets are placed, each player is dealt cards, which they keep hidden from other players, and a round of betting commences. Players may raise and re-raise each other’s bets during this process. At the end of a betting round, the player with the highest-ranking hand wins the pot.

Unlike many casino games, there are few fixed rules about poker; however, most variations of the game share certain fundamentals. For example, most poker games are played with a standard 52-card pack, and the cards are ranked (from high to low) Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 and 4. Some poker games also use wild cards or other special symbols, such as jokers. Some poker games have more than one dealer, while others are played by a single person. Some poker variants also have different types of betting rounds.