Poker is a betting card game that requires strategy, reading your opponents, and the ability to keep a cool head while making big bluffs. The object of the game is to win a pot of chips by having the highest-ranked poker hand.

Cards are dealt in intervals (or rounds) with betting that continues until someone folds. Each player has two cards in his hand that are personal to him and five community cards on the table. The player who bets the most during a betting round wins the pot. Each player may also “check,” which means to pass on the betting, or ”bet,” by placing chips in the pot that his opponents must match or raise.

The game can be played with any number of players from 2 to 14, though 8 is the ideal number for most games. During a deal, one player (designated by the rules of the particular variant being played) makes the first bet and each player must place in the pot at least the amount placed by the person before him.

The most popular version of the game is Texas Hold’em, which is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. In this game, each player has two personal cards in their hands (called hole cards) and the community cards are revealed in three stages: the flop, then an additional single card called the turn, and finally the river.