The aim for a hand is to win by having the highest ranked hand of cards or else by continuing to bet that your hand is the highest until all the other players drop out. The stakes do not need to be money - peanuts, sweets or matchsticks will work fine, although seasoned gamblers will sneer at anything other than serious stakes. Poker is totally a gambling game and unlike some other gambling games cannot really be played without stakes. A dealer chip called a 'blind' is also usually used to indicate the current dealer (or at Casino tables, to indicate who plays first). Some kind of tokens to bet with are required and conventionally these are round chips - sets of Poker chips are easily obtainable these days and vary from very cheap to extremely high quality sets of great value. The Ace ranks high except that it can also be used low in a 'straight' or run of cards i.e. Most games these days are played with a standard 52 card deck. Originally Poker was played with a standard 36 card Piquet deck of playing cards. Rules applicable to all Poker Games Poker Equipment
