Poker is a card game in which players place bets on the outcome of a hand. It is a game of chance, but the game can also be influenced by strategy. The aim is to win the pot, which is the sum of all the bets made during a single hand. Players can win the pot by having the best hand or by betting their opponents out of the game through bluffing.
The rules of poker vary depending on the variant being played. The game was first played in the United States using a standard 52-card English deck with a number of modifications, including the addition of a flush (a four-card combination of matching cards) and the straight (five consecutively ranking cards). The game is very popular in casinos and is often broadcast on television.
Almost all games of poker are played with chips. Each player has a supply of these chips, and the value of each chip is determined by its color. A white chip is worth one unit of betting, a red chip is worth five whites, and so on.
After each player receives their two hole cards, there is a round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer. When the betting is complete, each player shows their hands.
During the showdown, the player with the best 5-card hand wins the pot. If nobody has a winning hand, the money in the pot is divided among the remaining players.