Poker is a card game in which players wager on the outcome of a hand according to specific rules. Although it can vary in how many cards are dealt, all poker games involve betting and a showdown. The game is played by two or more people around a table and the card dealer acts as a moderator. The game originated in culturally French territory and is named for the French word poque, meaning “to bet one unit.”
In poker games such as draw poker, each player receives a complete hand of cards while in other games like Texas hold’em each player is dealt two pocket cards that are known as hole cards. Then, a number of community cards are revealed in stages called the flop, turn and river. The objective of each player is to make the best five-card poker hand using their own cards and the community cards.
After each round of betting is completed, remaining players reveal their cards and the best poker hand is declared the winner of the pot. Some of the most popular poker hands include straights, full houses, four of a kind and the royal flush. In addition to these poker hand rankings, bluffing is also an important part of the game.
The official poker rules are set by the game’s rules committee, which may be a cardroom floorperson, shift supervisor or cardroom manager. Some poker games require that players only use the money in front of them when placing a bet and may not buy more chips between hands.