Poker is a card game played with several players. The ideal number of players is six to eight. A poker game is won when a player has the best hand. The highest hand wins the pot, which is the sum total of all bets made by all players in a given deal. A player can win the pot by having the best hand or by making a bet that no other player calls.

Each betting interval begins with a player betting. The next player must either raise or put in the same number of chips as the previous player. If the player’s hand is a tie, he must fold the hand. If he or she wins, the remaining players’ chips go into the pot. If no player raises the pot, the betting interval ends.

In a poker game, the stakes can double after every raise, allowing players to double their money. However, this is not a good idea because stakes can quickly become too big and force the player out of the game due to lack of funds. For this reason, poker houses usually restrict stake raising to the amount of the previous raise.

Poker hands are made of five cards. If you have a pair of aces, the lowest possible hand is 6-4-3-2-A. If you have more than one five-card hand, the higher card wins the hand. Likewise, if you have two pairs of the same suit, you win if the higher card is higher than the other pair.