Poker is a card game played between two or more players and involves betting. The game is regulated by standard rules that are generally agreed upon by the players at a table. The goal is to form a five-card poker hand that beats the other players’ hands. In addition, players may use betting strategies such as raising and re-raising to increase the amount of money they can win.

In a poker game, each player is dealt 2 cards face-down (hidden from the other players), which are called their hole or pocket cards. Once all players have their cards, a round of betting begins. The first player to act can choose to call the bet, raise it, or drop. If a player drops, they must put into the pot at least as many chips as any players before them or else they must leave the table.

After the initial bet, 3 more cards are dealt face up at the center of the table and are called the flop. A new betting phase then begins, starting with the player to the left of the big blind.

After all the players have revealed their cards, the highest poker hand wins the pot. Sometimes, there is a tie for the best poker hand, in which case all players sharing that hand split the money. Players can also agree to share some of the money they have put down as buy-in before the start of the game.