Poker is a card game played by two or more players. It is a game of chance, but it also involves skill and psychology. The game has many variants, but they all share certain features. In the simplest form, each player places chips (representing money, for which the game is almost always played) into the pot in a single betting interval. The player with the best hand wins the pot. Other players may call, raise or fold. A player who raises by more than a minimum amount is said to be all-in.
The cards used in a poker game are standard 52-card packs. Some games add additional cards called jokers or wild cards. Each card has a rank (high, low, or middle), and four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs). The value of a poker hand is determined by its mathematical frequency — the less frequent the hand, the higher its ranking.
After the betting round, the players reveal their cards and evaluate their hands. The player with the best hand according to the specific poker variant being played wins the pot.
Players are free to make bets at any time, and they can increase or decrease their bets based on their own assessment of the chances of winning. They can also bluff by betting that they have the best hand. If they are bluffing, other players must either call the bet or fold. This gives the bluffing player a chance to win the pot without making a hand.