Official poker is a game of betting and strategy. It can be played in many different forms, ranging from high-stakes tournament play to casual home games. It has become one of the most popular card games in the world, with a boom occurring at the turn of the millennium and continuing into the present day.

The main goal of poker is to create the best possible five-card poker hand from the cards in your own hand and the community cards that are dealt face up. This is achieved by raising and re-raising during the betting rounds. The most common form of poker is Texas hold’em, which has become extremely popular as a result of televising and online gaming.

A standard pack of 52 cards is used in most poker games (although some add extra cards called jokers). The four suits are clubs, hearts, diamonds and spades; no suit is higher than any other, although the Ace is generally high. In most cases, the highest-ranked hand wins.

Most games are played with at least two players, and the player to the left of the dealer is known as the button. These players make forced bets before the cards are dealt (the Small Blind and the Big Blind) in addition to any antes placed by other players. Each player is then dealt two cards, which are known as their hole cards.

Depending on the game, there may be a special fund called the kitty. This is built up by “cutting” (taking a low-denomination chip from each pot in which there is more than one raise) and is used to pay for things such as new decks of cards, food and drinks. Any chips remaining in the kitty at the end of a game are distributed to players equally.