Poker is a card game that has many variants, but all of them involve betting and a hand of five cards. It is considered to be an ancestor of other bluffing games. It is played by two or more people, and it can be very fast-paced. The goal of the game is to make the best five-card hand. The higher the hand, the more money a player will win. There are many different strategies to use in poker, and it is important to be able to read other players’ expressions and body language in order to detect their intentions.

When more than one player remains in the game, a showdown takes place where the hands are revealed and the winner takes the pot. In some cases, the entire pot can be split evenly if all players have a high enough hand. A player may “call” (match) a bet made by another player, or they can try to bluff and win by raising the bet in hopes that players with weaker hands will call.

In a game of Poker, a “kitty” is established by unanimous or majority agreement among the players to pay for new decks of cards and other expenses. Typically, each player will take one low-denomination chip from every pot in which they raise a bet, and these chips will go into the kitty. Once the kitty is full, it will be distributed to the players who are still in the game.