Poker is a game of skill that can be played with any number of players. The goal of the game is to have the best hand out of the five cards that are dealt to each player. Depending on the style of the game, players may bluff or bet their hands.

The poker table is set up and each player puts in a minimum amount of chips. These chips are usually red, blue or green in color.

A game of Poker can be played with any number of players, but the ideal number is six to eight. When there are more than eight players, two separate games are often played.

Poker is generally played with a deck of 52 cards. Initially, the deck is split into two parts – an exposed and an unexposed portion. For the exposed portion, each player is given one card face-up.

The unexposed portion is then shuffled. Each player is then dealt a full hand, including the cards he received in the exposed portion.

Once all players have been dealt a complete hand, the dealer makes an offer to each player to cut the pack. Players must then choose whether to bet or fold. If a player decides to fold, he or she discards the hand.

When a player makes a bet, other players must match it. If no other players call, the winning hand is revealed. The highest-ranking poker hand takes the pot.

There are many variations of Poker. Some of them include lowball, split-pot, community card and stud.