Poker is a card game of chance, but once betting begins the game becomes a lot more about strategy and psychology. While the initial forced bets (ante or blind) in a hand do involve a significant amount of luck, players choose whether to call raises or fold their hands based on their expected long-run advantage and a strategy devised from probability theory, game theory, and player psychology.
The game is played with one or more decks of cards and can be played with anywhere from two to eight players. The game is characterized by several rounds of betting, during which each player may bet either to stay in the pot or to increase the size of his stakes.
In each round of betting, the dealer shuffles the cards and then deals them to the players one at a time starting with the player to their left. The first player to act must place chips into the pot equal to the total contribution of the player to his immediate right. If he does not place in this way, his chips remain in the pot and he may not compete for the winning hand.
When all players have placed all their chips into the pot, they reveal their cards. The highest ranked hand wins the pot and all bets. If no one has a high ranked hand, then the player who has raised the most on each round takes the pot.
