In poker, individuals compete for an amount of money or chips contributed by each player (called the pot). The players act in turn by raising, folding, calling, or putting all-in. The players aim to minimize losses with poor hands and maximize winnings with good ones. The game is played in tournaments and cash games (AKA ring games).

In each betting interval, each active player receives two cards face down, called their hole cards, followed by five community cards dealt in stages: three cards (“the flop”), then an additional card (“the turn”), then the final card (“the river”). Each player then makes a final poker hand from these seven cards. The best hand wins the pot.

Each poker game has a specific set of rules. These rules determine the order of betting and how much a player can raise in each interval. Some of these rules are universal while others vary between different poker games and different regions of the world.

One of the biggest problems in poker is that different regions have their own unique rules, resulting in misunderstandings and disputes. There is a growing interest in creating a standard set of poker rules to avoid these problems.

The International Poker Federation (FIDPA) has published a set of 81 poker rules, freely available on their website. These rules have been compiled to avoid many of the misunderstandings and disputes that can occur in casinos and poker tournaments around the world.