Poker is a card game that involves skill, strategy and gambling. Players make bets based on the strength of their hand and may also bluff. The player with the best 5-card hand wins all the chips or money in the pot.

The dealer is responsible for shuffling and dealing the cards. The dealer is usually a player, but can be a non-player. Each round a different player takes turns being the dealer. A chip is passed around to indicate who is the dealer, and certain betting rules depend on this information.

Each player is dealt 2 hole cards. There are a number of ways to make a winning hand, including straights and flushes. A straight contains 5 consecutive cards of the same rank, while a flush includes any five unmatched cards. A three of a kind contains 3 matching cards of one rank, while two pair is made of 2 matching cards of another rank and 1 unmatched card.

The game has a wide variety of strategies and styles, and is often characterized by the by-play between players, including verbal exchanges and body language. It is considered a psychological game that requires players to manage risk, read others, and make decisions with incomplete information. These skills are useful in other aspects of life, such as business and relationships.