Poker is a card game where individuals compete for an amount of money or chips contributed by all players (called the pot). A player’s skill in the game depends on their ability to predict what other players will do. This is true whether you play at a home game, in a casino, or at an official tournament.
Before the development of poker tournaments, the majority of poker games were played for real money. This type of poker is still very common, often referred to as cash games.
In this type of game, players wager actual currency on each hand. In some cases, a player can even win more than they have wagered. In addition to gambling for real cash, there are also a variety of poker tournaments where players wager virtual money on the outcome of a hand.
Unless a particular poker game specifies otherwise, the standard deck of 52 cards is used. Typically, one or two jokers are added to the pack. The ace is the highest card and there are four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs). Each player receives two cards, which are dealt face down.
In some poker environments, a professional dealer is employed to act as the nominal dealer for betting purposes. This is often done by placing a round disc called the dealer button in front of the first player to his left. The button is passed clockwise after every hand. A dealer will usually sell poker chips to the players, with a white chip being worth a minimum amount for an ante or bet and a red chip being worth five whites.