Poker is a game in which players use cards to form the best hand possible. The winning hand is determined by the highest card, and sometimes a tie is broken by the second highest card.

In most forms of poker, the first player to make a bet is the one who starts the betting. Players can call, raise or pass.

Typically, a player makes a bet by placing chips into the pot. The chips are normally colored black, blue or green. They can be worth a certain amount of money, usually the lowest denomination chip.

Players may also raise their bet to increase their odds of winning. During this process, players have to take into account other factors such as the visual range of the hand and the frequency of action.

After the cards are dealt, there is a round of betting. At the end of the round, all bets are gathered into a central pot. Depending on the variation of the game, different players can win the main pot.

To determine which card is the highest, players often refer to a rule called the “showdown.” This is a game of chance whereby the highest unmatched card breaks a tie, and the winner is the player with the highest five-card hand.

When two players have identical hands, a tie is broken by the second-highest card. A player can win a pot by making a bet that no other player calls.