Poker is a card game with many variants, all of which involve betting and the sharing of money (or chips, as in this article) among players. It is often considered a game of chance, but when bets are introduced it becomes more like a game of skill and psychology.
In some versions of poker, one player is designated as the dealer, and this person shuffles the deck before dealing each player two cards. The player to his left makes a mandatory bet, called a blind, and this bet is added to the pot before each player acts. These bets are not optional, but they provide an incentive for players to participate in the game.
Once players have their two hole cards, a third card opens on the board, known as the “Turn.” There is another round of betting where players can check, call, raise, or fold. Players can also bluff in this phase by betting that they have a strong hand and hoping other players will call them.
After the Turn, a final card is revealed on the table, called the River. This opens up a fifth round of betting among remaining players, who now know what kind of hands their opponents have and can adjust their own bets accordingly.
In a typical hand, each player will reveal his or her cards at “showdown.” The player with the best five-card hand wins the entire pot of money. Players may also agree to some rules before the game begins about how the pot will be distributed after the final betting phase is over.