Official poker is a card game played on a table with a dealer and players. There are a variety of betting structures, including no-limit and pot-limit. The most common form of poker involves betting based on the strength of a player’s hand. The game is played from a standard pack of 52 cards (some variant games add jokers).

Unlike many other casino card games, poker uses standardized poker chips to distinguish the different values. The color of the chip indicates its value. A white chip is worth one unit, a red chip is worth five units, and a blue or other dark-colored chip is worth 10 or more units. Poker chips are typically stacked in stacks of 20, and the players should be able to see each other’s stacks from across the table.

The rules of official poker are not set in stone, but they are generally followed by tournament directors and managers. The tournament director or manager has the authority to make any changes necessary for the fairness of the competition. This includes removing prize money from an event or altering the prize structure. However, the decision of the tournament management is final.

While it is possible for a player to ghost his way to first place in a tournament, this is not ethical and goes against the rules of poker. Recently, partypoker disqualified a top finisher for this reason because he was using TeamViewer to play the tournament on his home computer, which would be considered ghosting.