Poker is a card game in which players compete to form the best five-card hand. The game is played with a minimum of two players and a maximum of 10. The cards are dealt face down, and the turn to bet passes from player to player. Players may shuffle the cards and cut after each deal. Generally, the dealer has the last right to shuffle and cut.

A round of betting begins after each player receives their 2 hole cards. Each player must put a mandatory bet called the “blinds” into the pot before they can call a bet. The highest hand wins the pot.

After the flop is revealed, there will be another round of betting. The player on the left of the dealer starts this round of betting. If you have a strong hand, bet at it to force weak hands out of the pot. If you have a weak hand, check and fold.

The best hand is a straight or flush. A straight contains 5 consecutive cards of the same rank (excluding wild cards). A flush is five cards of the same suit in sequence. A full house is 3 matching cards of one rank and two matching cards of another rank. A pair is three matching cards of any rank. Two pairs are the second-best hand, and a single pair is the worst. If more than one player has the same hand, the higher card wins the pot.