In the game of poker, a winning hand is made up of at least two cards of the same rank. A full house, for example, is when the player has two pairs of cards in addition to a fifth card. In a tie, the higher-ranked pair wins. A straight flush, on the other hand, is a straight with all five cards of the same suit. The winner of a poker hand is the person with the highest total card value.
Depending on the variation of poker, some players are required to place a minimum bet before drawing cards. In some games, the minimum hand required to bet is a pair of jacks. However, this does not necessarily mean that all players are required to have this minimum hand. The player who makes the first bet before the drawing of cards is considered the active player.
Poker is played using a standard deck of 52 cards. Variations use multiple packs and sometimes add a joker. The cards are ranked from Ace high to Ace low. Typically, poker hands consist of five cards. Some games also have Wild Cards that may take any suit. These are usually specified in the rules.
When a player is able to keep the opening hand, they can choose to fold. This means placing the discards under the chip. If the dealer does not see the discards, the player who folds will forfeit the opening hand and loses the pot.