Originally, poker was a seedy game played by pickpockets and card hustlers. Using their slang, they were able to cheat unsuspecting opponents. The name “poker” was attached to this cheating game, and was said to have originated from the word “poke,” which was a slang term used by pickpockets.

In poker, each hand is made up of five cards. Two of them are face down, and the other four are face up. The player who holds the highest ranking hand wins the pot. Ties are broken by comparing the unmatched cards of the hands.

In some poker games, the ace is treated as the lowest card. In other games, the lowest hand is a pair of jacks. A pair of aces beats a straight flush, and a wheel beats a straight.

In a pot-limit game, the player with the best hand may call a bet, raise the amount of the bet, or decline to fold. If he fails to make a bet, the other players decide whether to continue or drop out of the hand.

In a community card game, each player must contribute a certain amount of chips to the pot. The betting intervals for a community card game are usually similar to those in a pot-limit game.

Each round of dealing is interrupted by the turn to bet. The player to the immediate left of the dealer button receives the first card. The dealer then pitches the cards clockwise around the table. The first player to bet is called the first bettor, and the next player must match his bet.