Poker is a card game where players place bets with tokens, usually round chips of various quality. The player with the best hand wins the pot (the amount of money bet in a poker game). This game is played in a clockwise rotation, and the dealer is the player whose turn it is to deal the cards. The players may choose to ante, raise their initial bet, or fold.

In poker, the player who has the best 5-card hand at the end of a round is the winner of the round. The winning player collects all the money in the pot, and shares it with other players. This game can take many rounds before a player runs out of money. Ultimately, the game ends when one player wins all the money put down as the buy-in.

Poker is a popular spectator sport, with a huge fan following in the United States and other countries. It has been popularized by television shows, and many people are inspired to be the next world champion. The World Series of Poker is ranked as the sixth most lucrative sporting event in the world. In 2011, the World Series of Poker ranked 6th in the list of highest paying sporting events.

Players are usually required to make a bet before the game begins. In the case of a “showdown,” the final bet made by a player who has the highest hand wins the pot.