Poker is a card game in which players place bets (in the form of chips representing money) on the outcome of a hand. While the outcome of any particular hand involves considerable chance, players choose their actions based on various strategic considerations such as probability, psychology and game theory.

Each player places an ante before being dealt five cards, which they may discard or keep. A round of betting follows, and players may raise their bets as the value of their hands improves. The highest ranked hand wins the pot. Players also have the option of bluffing, in which they bet that they have a high-value hand when they do not.

The earliest references to Poker in card-game literature date to the 16th century, and the modern game is closely related to a variety of earlier vying games such as Belle, Flux & Trente-un, Post & Pair and Brag. It is likely that the game reached its current form around 1900, and was popularized by the 1904 edition of Hoyle’s Card Games.