Among the hundreds of variations of poker, the main idea is to form the best possible hand from five cards. In some versions, a wild card can be used to create the highest possible hand.

Each player’s five-card hand is revealed. The player with the highest hand wins the pot. If more than one player remains, a showdown is held.

The dealer deals the cards to players in clockwise rotation. In some variants, each player is allowed to discard a card before each round. In others, each player must place a certain amount of chips into the pot before they can raise the bet.

Before the first betting round, each player must shuffle his or her hand. In stud and community card games, each player chooses five cards from the deck to form a hand.

The first three community cards are dealt face up. The dealer then burns one card from the top of the deck. The player to the left of the dealer receives the jack, which becomes the first card of the shuffled pack.

A player may bluff by placing a bet and claiming that he or she has the best hand. A player can also bluff by making a forced bet. The bet is either a blind bet or an ante bet. The first player to make a bet is called the player to the left of the big blind. If all other players fold, the betting phase is over.