There are several different variations of poker. In a round of poker, the players reveal their hands in clockwise rotation around the table. This process begins with the player who bet first. If that player loses his hand, his chips go into the pot. Then, the next player on the left must make a bet equal to the total amount of the previous player’s bet. In this way, the poker game progresses until only one player remains.

The lowest-ranking hand in poker is a high card, which is also known as nothing. It consists of five cards that are not consecutive and are not the same suit. A high-card hand will win if the opponent’s hand is higher-ranking than its own. In a tie, the prize will be divided evenly between the two players. Most games use an ante to establish rank. The highest unmatched card and two secondary pairs break a tie.

A number of variations of poker exist, from Three-Card Monte to Spit-in-the-Ocean. All of these variations will be covered in a later chapter. If there are more than ten players, two separate games can be organized. In these cases, the final arbiter should be written Poker laws. A club’s “house rules” should also be documented and adhered to. If the rules of the game are unclear, a referee should resolve the matter through a formal court case.