Poker is a card game played by two or more players for multiple rounds. It involves betting, and decisions made by players on the basis of probability, psychology, and game theory. While the outcome of a single hand may involve considerable chance, players make decisions to maximize their long-run expectations by raising and calling bets for reasons related to expectation and risk management.

In the popular variants of Poker, such as Texas Hold’em and Omaha, a complete set of cards is dealt to each player, face down, and then there are one or more betting rounds. During the betting, players can discard their own cards and take new ones from the top of the deck. After the final betting round, the players show their hands and the player with the best five-card hand wins the pot.

Each player must place a mandatory bet, called an ante or blind bet, into the pot before they can see their own cards. During the betting, players can call, raise or even go All-In. If an opponent calls, the player must raise to extract the maximum value from their own hand.

If a player’s hole cards match a community card, such as the flop, turn or river, the player may have a strong hand. However, if the player’s hole cards are weaker than the community cards, they must fold.