Poker is a card game played between two or more players. It has many variants but the basic game is the same. The aim is to make the best five card hand from your own cards and those of the community cards. Various poker rules are in place to ensure fair play and avoid cheating. These include ensuring that each player pays in at least the minimum amount (sometimes called an ante) before dealing the cards and that each player is allowed to raise the next player’s bet by an agreed increment.

Several poker tournaments are held annually in casinos, private rooms, and other gambling establishments. These events feature a fixed number of players and offer prizes that are usually in the form of cash or casino chips. The prize money is distributed to the top-ranked players in relation to their finishing position in the tournament.

In some poker environments, a professional dealer is employed to deal the cards and collect the chips. These environments typically charge players either an hourly rental fee for their seats or “rake” a small percentage of each pot as compensation for acting as the nominal dealer.

Despite the fact that professional dealers are used, some players have still been accused of breaking poker rules. An example of this would be a dealer reaching over to kill your hand with your monster on the flop, or a player peeking at your cards before you act (as was alleged to have happened to Natalie “TheV0id” Teltscher in a recent WCOOP event).