Poker is a card game played by two or more players. Although it involves chance, betting and psychology add a level of skill and strategy to the game. This article will introduce some of the fundamentals of the game, and provides some basic tips for new players. You can learn more by reading books on the game, or you can simply play poker with a group.

Most poker games use a standard 52-card deck. However, some variants use more than one pack, or even include jokers. In either case, the cards are ranked Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten. Aces can be either high or low, while the other cards are ranked from lowest to highest. Each hand in poker is made up of five cards, and the winning player is the winner.

In poker, the players start the game by setting up their cards on the table. The leftmost player deals cards, while the rightmost player receives the last two. Players then take turns betting and dealing cards. During each turn, players can shuffle cards. A player who has the right to shuffle the cards is called the dealer. If the dealer has a pack of cards left over, he must pass it to the next player.

In poker, the highest hand is called a flush, and the second highest hand is a straight flush. In case of a tie, the highest pair wins, or the second highest. If a tie is broken by a high card, the higher hand wins.