In Poker, a card game for 2-14 players, the object is to win the pot, the sum of all bets made in a deal. The bets may be placed voluntarily by players who believe that the bet has a positive expected value or by players who are attempting to bluff other players for strategic reasons. While the outcome of any particular hand of Poker involves considerable luck, in the long run the game is decided by actions chosen by players on the basis of probability, psychology, and game theory.

The game is played with a standard 52-card pack, and cards are dealt in rotation to each player, one at a time, starting on the left of the dealer. In some Poker variants, the first player must place an ante into the pot, while in others the antes are optional.

Once each player has received his or her two hole cards, a round of betting begins. Each player may choose to call, raise or fold in turn. If a player calls, then he or she places chips or cash in the pot equal to the amount of the bet that was previously raised.

The top poker hand is a royal flush, which consists of a 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of the same suit. A straight flush consists of five consecutive cards of the same suit, while a three of a kind consists of 3 matching cards of one rank and two unmatched cards. A pair consists of two cards of the same rank, while a full house contains 3 matching pairs and a fifth card of another rank.