Whether you play poker online, at a casino, or in your home, you are probably familiar with the standard rules of the game. The goal is to form the best possible hand of cards, using your five cards and the five community cards. There are many variations of the game.
The game is played by a group of people around an oval or circular table. A pot is the aggregate of all the bets made by all the players in one deal. The best hand wins the pot.
The best hand is not always the most powerful. In some games, an ace is treated as the low card. The highest possible hand is a five of a kind, which is only allowed in stud poker.
During the course of the game, players may decide to bluff or fold. A bluff is an attempt to convince an opponent that their hand is more valuable than it actually is. A fold on the other hand is an action to formally surrender a chance to win a hand.
The first betting round, which occurs before the flop, consists of antes. The ante is the minimum amount of money that a player must put into the pot in order to play. A second blind is the value of the minimum bet, which is typically the same amount as the first blind.
The best hand is the one that pays off. The winner takes all the money in the pot.