Poker is a card game in which players try to make the best five-card hand out of a variety of cards. It is played in hundreds of variants, but most have certain features in common.

First, a player puts an amount of money into the pot before the cards are dealt, usually in the form of an ante. Depending on the rules, this amount may or may not be returned to the player if he loses.

Next, the dealer shuffles the deck and deals the cards one at a time to each player. The player on the left of the dealer acts first, folding or calling, or raising if no player calls.

The dealer also deals three community cards face up to the table. These are known as the “flop.”

Once the flop has been dealt, each player’s hand develops in some way, often by being dealt additional cards or replaced by other cards from the undealt portion of the deck. The last betting round is called the showdown, and the winner is the player with the best hand.

The main purpose of the game is to win a pot of money by having the best five-card hand out of the cards dealt. If a tie occurs, the pot is divided among the players with the highest-ranking hands.