Poker is a card game in which players place bets against each other on their cards. The player with the best five-card hand wins the pot. While poker involves a certain amount of skill and strategy, the outcome mostly depends on luck.
The game is played in rounds, with the first round starting with two mandatory bets (antes or blinds) placed into the pot by players to the left of the dealer. The dealer then shuffles the deck and deals each player two cards face down, followed by a community card being dealt on the table (the flop). After this, there is another round of betting, with players being able to check, call or raise.
Unlike games like chess, where the information is known before any bet is made, each poker hand mimics real life by requiring resources to be committed before all of the information is evident. This is especially true for higher level players who must be able to leverage their relative advantage over weaker opponents by maintaining decision quality, even under pressure.
Whether in a poker tournament or in a job interview, the goal is to make a decision with a high likelihood of success while protecting the sources of your relative advantage. These are what we refer to as meta-skill dimensions, and they are grouped into three categories: Opportunities, Strategy, and Execution. These dimensions are what determine a player’s lifetime earnings, and they are the key to maximizing profit at any level of play.