Official poker is a game that involves betting and requires skill as well as luck. Poker has a long history and is found in many countries and cultures. In the past decade there has been increasing interest in building a worldwide set of official rules for poker tournaments and games. These official rules are meant to help solve the problem of different local customs and variations in card-game law, which tend to lead to misunderstandings and disputes.

The rules of poker are based on the standard 52-card pack with one or two jokers added. Cards are ranked in the order of Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. Some games also use wild cards, which may take any rank or suit.

There are five actions in the game: fold, check, raise, call and bet. Depending on the action of the player before you, you can choose to do any of these. The number of cards dealt, whether or not the players are required to reveal their hands and how much betting occurs are all governed by specific game laws.

Most poker games are played with chips, which are a common method of payment for bets and other amounts. Usually a white chip is worth a single unit (or whatever the minimum ante or bet is), red chips are worth ten units and blue chips are worth twenty or fifty. Some poker games require a minimum amount of chips, and others have a maximum number of players that can be accommodated.