Poker is a card game played with cards and chips. It is played in private homes, poker clubs, casinos and over the Internet. It is a gambling game that requires skill and strategy.

The goal of poker is to get the best hand possible at the end of the game. The player with the best hand is called the winner.

Players bet on their hands using plastic or ceramic discs called poker chips, which they place in a communal pot. Unlike coins or cash, chips are easier to handle and count.

There are countless variations of the game, including Texas Hold’Em, Omaha, Stud, and Seven-Card Stud. However, there are some basic rules that apply to all of them.

An ante is a small bet that all players make before the cards are dealt. This ante is a buy-in and gives the pot value right from the start.

In most games, the highest hand is awarded the pot. This is based on the standard ranking of poker hands, which ranks a hand from lowest to highest.

Ranks hands according to the probability that it contains the most common combination of cards. The standard ranking is: high card, pair of cards, two pairs, three of a kind, straight, flush, and straight flush.

A straight flush is a five-card hand that contains one of each of the four suits. The five cards in a straight flush must all be the same suit, and no cards may be higher or lower than those in the flush.