Poker is a gambling game in which players must ante with an amount that varies from game to game. They then place a bet into the middle pot, where the highest hand wins. The betting occurs in clockwise fashion, and players have three options when betting: they can raise their initial bet, fold, or bet more than they have.

To win, you must have two pairs of cards of the same rank. A pair of fours of the same rank wins the pot. If two players have a four of a kind, the high card will break the tie. A flush is when all the cards are of the same suit. However, in some games, the highest pair is the pair of aces.

During a round of poker, there is a dealer who is responsible for shuffling the deck and dealing the cards to the players. The dealer can be a player or a non-player. Players take turns being the dealer. Each round, the dealer is designated with a dealer chip. This chip is then passed on to the next player. Certain betting rules apply depending on who is the dealer.

The game has hundreds of variations. In 5-card poker, for example, there are 10 ways to win. One way to win is by having a straight. Another way to win is by having five cards of the same suit. This strategy is known as bluffing.