Poker is a card game that is played between two or more players. It is a game of chance and skill, where the player with the highest ranked hand wins the pot (all the bets made during that hand).
Poker uses a standard 52-card pack, with some games adding one or more joker cards. The cards are ranked, from high to low, as follows: ace, king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four and three. There are four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs) but only the ace is higher than any other card. Some games use wild cards, which can take on any suit and rank the owner desires.
Players begin each round of play by putting an amount into the pot (the amount varies by game) to receive their cards. Then players place bets on their hands until there is a showdown. The first player to place a bet is called the open bettor, and subsequent players may call his bet or raise it.
All players are expected to maintain an acceptable level of honesty. This includes not revealing the details of their own cards or any information that would allow others to know if they were bluffing. This level of integrity is important to the game, and violations of it may result in a player being disqualified from future participation. Similarly, in life, lying can ruin your reputation and derail a promising career. In addition to being honest, a successful life requires taking risks, and some of those risks will fail.