Poker is a card game in which players compete for an amount of money or chips contributed by the participants themselves (called the pot). The game can be played with any number of cards and may or may not include wild cards. In most games, the highest-ranked hand wins. The game is typically played from a standard deck of 52 cards, with four suits ranked from low to high: clubs, hearts, diamonds, and spades, and an Ace (which can be high or low). Some variants of poker use multiple packs or add additional cards called jokers.

In a typical game, each player must first pay an ante (an amount that varies by game, but is typically no more than a nickel) to receive their cards. After that, they bet into the pot in rounds of betting. Once all the bets have been made, the remaining players with hole cards reveal them and a winning hand is determined.

Most poker tournaments have a guaranteed prize pool set before the tournament begins. This is to ensure that at least a certain percentage of the players will be paid, but it also helps to attract more people to the tournament.

The payout structure varies by tournament, but is typically based on the number of entrants. It is common for close to 10% of the field to be paid in a multi-table tournament.