Poker is a card game that can be played in many different ways, from socially for pennies or matchsticks to professionally for thousands of dollars. It can also be played in tournaments or in a cash game (AKA ring game). Each type of poker has its own rules, but all share some common ground.

One thing that all poker games have in common is that they involve betting. Players must either call or raise any bet placed against them in order to stay in the hand and have a chance of winning it. Most games are played with a minimum bet amount of $1 and a maximum raise limit of $2. These limits are set for the entire table prior to the start of play and should be posted on the table before any hands begin.

Cards are dealt from a standard 52-card deck, often with the addition of one or two jokers. The suits are spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs; and the rank is Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 5, 4, 3, 2. There may be wild cards in some games or specific cards that can act as such, but these are not standard and should be specified by the particular game.

Each player is dealt two hole cards and the game begins with four rounds of betting – preflop, flop, turn, river. The objective is to make the best five-card poker hand according to standard poker hand rankings or to force the other players to fold.