Poker is a family of card games involving betting
and individual play, whereby the winner is determined by the ranks and
combinations of their cards, some of which remain hidden until the end
of the game. Poker games vary in the number of cards dealt, the number
of shared or "community" cards and the number of cards that remain
hidden. The betting procedures vary among different poker games in such
ways as betting limits and splitting the pot between a high hand and a low hand.
In most modern poker games, the first round of betting begins with one of the players making some form of a forced bet (the blind and/or ante).
In standard poker, each player is betting that the hand he or she has
will be the highest ranked. The action then proceeds clockwise around
the table and each player in turn must either match the maximum previous
bet or fold,
losing the amount bet so far and all further interest in the hand. A
player who matches a bet may also "raise," or increase the bet. The
betting round ends when all players have either matched the last bet or
folded. If all but one player fold on any round, then the remaining
player collects the pot and may choose to show or conceal their hand. If
more than one player remains in contention after the final betting
round, the hands are revealed and the player with the winning hand takes
the pot. With the exception of initial forced bets, money is only
placed into the pot voluntarily by a player who, at least in theory,
rationally believes the bet has positive expected value.
Thus, while the outcome of any particular hand significantly involves
chance, the long-run expectations of the players are determined by their
actions chosen on the basis of probability, psychology and game theory.
Poker has gained in popularity since the beginning of the twentieth
century, and has gone from being primarily a recreational activity
confined to small groups of mostly male enthusiasts, to a widely popular
spectator activity with international audiences and multi-million
dollar tournament prizes.
