Poker is a card game in which players place bets according to the strength of their hands. A hand consists of five cards. Each player must either call the bet (put in a minimum amount of chips) or raise it. Players can also bluff, in which case they pretend to have a strong hand when they don’t. In this way, they can make other players believe that their hand will trump theirs and they should fold, which gives them the opportunity to win the pot.

While the outcome of any single hand involves a significant degree of chance, long-run expectations are determined by strategic choices made by players on the basis of probability theory, psychology and game theory. This is particularly true for tournament play, where the game became popular in the 1970s. In fact, a whole new breed of gamblers emerged, competing in glitzy casinos and seedy dives to become the champions at this once-obscure pastime.

Regardless of where the game is played, there are a few rules that must be followed. First, a table and chairs are required for the game to take place. Almost always, poker is played with chips. A white chip, for example, is worth one minimum ante or bet; a red chip is usually worth either ten or twenty whites, and a blue chip is usually worth two, four or five reds.

The game begins with one or more players making forced bets, called the ante and blind bets. The dealer then shuffles the cards and deals them to the players, beginning with the player on their left. Each player’s hand develops through a series of betting rounds, and at the end of each round all bets are gathered into a central pot.