Poker is a popular gambling game that is played with chips. These are usually red or blue in color. They are placed in a central pot, and the highest hand wins the pot. Several variations of the game are played with different rules. Some games award the pot to the highest hand, and others split the pot between the highest and lowest hands.

The best possible hand in a poker game is a five of a kind. This is achieved by using wild cards to assemble a hand with no cards left over. However, some variations of the game don’t consider flushes or straights.

The smallest card in the deck is the jack. After the dealer shuffles the cards, each player receives seven cards. In some versions, the cards are dealt face up.

One of the earliest variants of poker is called poque. This French version of primero is believed to have originated during the 17th century. It was a shortened version of the original primero, and was played along with German pochen.

A game of poker is usually played with eight or nine players, although variations can involve as few as two or three. Players start with a number of poker chips, usually red or blue. Each player must place a certain number of chips into the pot, and must match the bet of the previous player.

One of the earliest forms of poker was played with five cards per player. Cards were dealt one at a time, and betting was held between each card.