Poker is a card game of chance and strategy, played by two or more people. The game’s basic rules vary from one form to the next, but all forms involve betting in rounds and the winning of a pot by the player with the highest hand at showdown. The game is often played in the context of a gambling environment, but it can also be a social event.

At the start of a hand, players put in some amount of money (the “blind” or “ante”) and are then dealt cards. A player may choose to open the betting with a raise, or they can say “I check.” Once all checks have been made, the player may discard his/her cards and draw 1 to 3 new ones. When all the remaining cards have been drawn, there is a showdown. The winner takes the pot, which contains the bets of all players who have not folded.

The fact that a player can bet that they have the best hand, even when it is not true, is a key feature of the game and allows bluffing to be used. Players often increase the size of their bets when they believe that opponents do not have the best hand, thus attempting to win the pot by bluffing. Bluffing requires a good balance of psychology, probability, and game theory.