In a typical hand, the player with the highest hand wins the pot. In 7-card stud, the player with the highest hand wins the pot. In each round, players are dealt seven cards and a new betting phase begins between each new set of cards. Players may reveal their cards at this point, or they can hide them.
The basic rules of poker are the same as for any other type of game. Before each hand, players place an ante, or small bet, into the pot. When a player is dealt a pair of cards, they may discard one to three of them, or take a new one from the top of the deck. Once the cards are dealt, players can then choose to bet or fold. In the event that there is no betting, a player may check and equal their previous bet.
In most poker variants, the players are forced to make a mandatory bet at the beginning of the hand, known as the ante or blind. The dealer then shuffles the cards and distributes them one-by-one, depending on the number of players. Players then take turns dealing out their hands.
The goal of poker is to beat your opponents. To do this, you need to make the best hand of the five cards you have. A hand of four of a kind consists of two pairs of cards of the same rank. Another type of hand is a straight flush, which consists of four cards of the same suit.