Poker is one of the most popular card games in the world. It can be played socially for pennies or matchsticks, or professionally for thousands of dollars. It requires a great deal of skill and can be incredibly unpredictable.

A player begins a Poker game by contributing a minimum amount of chips called an “ante.” The ante usually goes up based on how much the players’ hands have improved. Then, a round of betting takes place.

After all the betting is completed, each player with a hand that shows reveals their hole cards. This is called a “showdown.”

Players’ hands are ranked according to the official poker hand rankings. The best five-card hand wins the pot.

The chips used for poker are coloured to represent different values. Typically, white is the lowest-value chip; red, blue, green, black, and purple are all considered higher-valued chips.

In addition to the standard colours for cash games, tournaments also use coloured “plaques” with larger denominations. They follow the same rules as cash games, but are a better way to keep track of the number of chips in play and to avoid confusion at the tables.

The TDA has developed a set of Recommended Procedures that are intended to reduce errors and enhance tournament management. These rules are not meant to replace the underlying poker laws, but to be used as policy suggestions that apply in situations where a single rule cannot resolve all the issues involved.