The rules of official poker are designed to provide a fair and unbiased decision-making process. Generally, each rule will have clear, descriptive wording that explains what the appropriate ruling should be in a given situation. This will allow the reader to understand and agree with the ruling and will allow other players to quickly reference the rule for future use in similar situations.

The game of poker is played with a standard 52-card deck (although some games add one or two jokers as wild cards). The deck has four suits: hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades; no suit ranks higher than another, and the highest hand wins.

Each player begins with an equal amount of chips that represent their stake in the game. These chips are typically purchased for a fixed amount of money called a buy-in. This is done before the first deal of each round of betting. In some tournaments, each entrant pays an entry fee to play. These fees are collected in advance and redistributed to the players in proportion to their finishing position at the end of the tournament.

There are many different forms of poker, but Texas hold ’em is by far the most popular variant. In the 2000s, it gained prominence in casinos and at the world-famous World Series of Poker, replacing seven-card stud as the main event.

Several of the most common rules of poker include a requirement that all players show their cards before a showdown, and a rule that no player can raise his or her bet more than three times during any round of betting. In addition, any player, dealer or floorperson who sees an error about to be made in awarding a pot has an ethical obligation to call it out.