Poker is a card game in which players place bets of chips (representing money) into a central pot. Players then receive cards that are either face up or face down depending on the variant of poker being played. After a series of betting intervals, the players reveal their hands and the player with the highest hand wins the pot.

Unlike other casino games, where luck plays a significant role in the short term, the best players in poker achieve long-term success by making decisions that maximize their winnings with strong hands and minimize their losses with weak ones. This requires a high degree of skill involving probability, psychology, and game theory.

A poker hand is a combination of cards that may include: a straight flush, which contains five consecutive cards of the same suit; a full house, which includes three matching cards of one rank plus two matching cards of another rank; a pair, which consists of two identical cards of the same rank; and one or more unmatched cards. Tied hands are determined by the ranking of the fifth card in each hand.

Before the cards are dealt, players must place a forced bet (called an ante or blind bet) into the pot. Then the dealer shuffles and deals the cards to each player one at a time, beginning with the person on their left. Each player places in the pot the number of chips that is at least equal to the total contribution made by the players who preceded them.