Official poker is a game of skill and chance, played in betting rounds with players betting and raising during each round. Players construct their hands from five cards dealt to them and the highest hand wins the pot. The game is played from a standard pack of 52 cards with four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs), although some games add jokers as wild cards.

The game begins with the dealer shuffles the cards, and each player then cuts in turn. The player to their left deals them a number of cards, face up or down as per the variant rules being used. The cards are then gathered into the central pot and the first of several betting rounds commences.

During the betting rounds players may call, raise or fold their hands. Normally, players will protect their own cards by placing chips or another object over them. Players must protect their cards as otherwise it could be possible for opponents to determine their betting intentions by looking at their actions in previous betting rounds.

In casinos a house dealer is responsible for dealing the cards, although in some online and live games players act as their own dealers and have to deal their own hands. The position to deal a hand rotates among the players and is marked by a token called a dealer button. Some casinos allow players to buy chips directly from the house dealer, which can speed up play and help deter players from exceeding their buy-in limits.