Poker is a card game in which players bet based on the strength of their hand with the objective of winning chips or money from other players. While many people consider it a game of chance, a good poker player has some level of skill and psychology in order to be successful. It requires players to navigate uncertainty, read others, and make strategic decisions with imperfect information. It also requires players to manage risk and bluff convincingly.
Poker can be played by two to fourteen players, although the ideal number of players is six to eight. Each player must contribute an amount called the ante before being dealt cards. Players then bet into the pot, with each player having the option to call, raise, or fold. The winner of a deal is the player with the highest hand.
There are a variety of rules that determine how much a player may bet in each betting interval. A player who does not match the last raise is said to call, while a player who bets more than the previous bettor is said to raise. A player may also check, which allows him to stay in without raising his stake.
In some games, a player who cannot meet the last raise must increase his stake to equal that of the last raiser or drop out of the competition altogether (fold). This is common in sports and games in which the total number of competitors must be limited, such as team and racket sports, most combat sports, most board games, and some forms of competitive debating.
The earliest poker games were probably derived from a wide range of earlier vying games, of which the most important are Primero (16th century, Spanish), Flux and Post (17th – 18th centuries, French), and Brag (18th – 19th centuries, English). Articles on the history of poker often mention a variety of other early vying games not directly relevant to the game we know as poker today.