poker vs cards

poker and cards both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
poker	Yes	No	No	No
cards	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, cards is a hypernym of poker; that is, cards is a word with a broader meaning than poker:

poker: any of various card games in which players bet that they hold the highest-ranking hand
cards: a game played with playing cards

Other hypernyms of poker include card game.

poker (noun)	cards (noun)
any of various card games in which players bet that they hold the highest-ranking hand	a game played with playing cards
fire iron consisting of a metal rod with a handle; used to stir a fire