Poker is a type of card game played by two or more people. It involves betting on the value of the cards you hold. There are several variations of poker, including straight, draw, stud, lowball and split-pot.

The first step in the game is to determine how much money you will bet. For cash games, this amount is called the buy-in. This may be fixed for a tournament, but can vary for a cash game.

After the players make their bets, they are dealt a hand of five cards. These cards can be face up, face down, or shuffled.

The player with the best hand takes the pot. All other players must match the bet. If one or more of the players folds, the player who folded loses the pot.

One or more players may be dealt side pots, which are separate pools of money. If a player wins a side pot, he or she has the option to add to the main pot. In some poker variants, a player can shuffle his or her own cards.

Cards are dealt face-down. Each player can then take one or more cards from the top of the deck.

A player can discard a maximum of three cards. Players can also bet on their hands. They bet on the values of their cards, based on the odds.

Each player is dealt a turn to make a bet. The dealer then cuts the cards. At the end of the round, all the bets are gathered into a central pot.