Poker is a card game that requires skill and strategy to play successfully. It is a popular game both for recreational and professional players. It can be played with two or more players and involves betting on the outcome of a hand, which can be a combination of cards and other objects such as chips. The object of the game is to win a pot (the sum total of all bets made in a deal), which is awarded to the player with the highest-ranking poker hand at the end of a betting round. Depending on the variant of poker being played, there may be several rounds of betting in a deal.

A typical Poker game starts with one or more forced bets, called blind bets, being placed into the pot by the players to their left before any cards are dealt. The dealer then shuffles the cards and deals each player two face-down cards, followed by a round of betting. Once all players have their hands, they can either call the current bet, raise it or fold.

There are many variations of the game, with different rules governing how and when bets can be raised and lowered, but in general a player is not allowed to increase their bet more than the amount already staked by any players to their left. This is known as equalization. If a player is not willing to equalize, they must drop out of the current side pots and will no longer compete for the original pot.