Poker is a card game in which players place bets and try to make the best five-card hand. There are many forms of the game, but in most of them each player has two private cards called hole cards and five community cards dealt face up on the table. There are also mandatory bets called blinds that must be placed into the pot by the players to the left of the dealer. The player with the highest hand wins the pot.

During the round of betting, players can either check, which means they are not placing any chips into the pot; or they can bet, by putting in chips that their opponents must match. When a player puts in a bet, it is also possible to raise that bet, adding additional chips to the pot.

In most games, the pot is won by the player who has the best five-card hand, but some allow a player to draw replacement cards for the ones in their hand. Depending on the rules of the game, this can be done during or immediately after the betting round.

Most poker games are played with chips, which represent a certain dollar amount and are easier to stack, count, keep track of, and make change with than actual cash. Usually, each color of chip represents a different dollar amount. Almost all poker games are played with at least seven players.