Poker is a family of card games, which are played worldwide. Each poker game has its own rules, but all of them involve betting.

The basic goal of poker is to get the best five-card poker hand. This is determined by the combination of your own cards and the community cards. In a standard game, each player is dealt two down (or hole) cards and three community cards are dealt face up on the table.

A round of betting takes place, with each player betting a pre-determined amount in response to the other players’ bets. After all players have made their bets, a showdown occurs where the players’ hole cards are revealed.

The winning hand is the one with the highest hand, based on mathematics. In Texas hold ’em, for example, the winner is awarded the pot if they have a straight or flush.

There are a number of official poker hands, which rank in order of best to worst. The higher a hand ranks, the less likely it is to be dealt that hand, and therefore the more likely it is to win the pot.

Most poker players use chips, which are conventionally round and vary in value from inexpensive to very expensive. The white chip is the lowest-valued unit, while red and blue chips are worth different amounts, depending on the minimum ante or bet in the game.

Some players will try to cheat at poker, either by hiding their chips to make them look smaller or by counting them and pretending they’re raising when they’re not. This is called “ghosting.” It is considered bad etiquette and is forbidden by most poker sites.