Poker is a card game in which players place bets based on expected value. In the long run, the outcome of any individual hand depends largely on chance, but expert players are able to make decisions that maximize their profits using principles of probability, psychology, and game theory. Professional players also learn to separate the unknown and uncontrollable from the known and controllable, a skill that can benefit them in their daily lives.
Poker originated from a variety of vying games, including Pochen (Germany, 16th century), Poque (French, 17th – 18th centuries), and Brag (English and American, late 18th – 19th centuries). A number of other card games also have ties to the ancestry of Poker.
Players begin the game with chips that represent their monetary commitment to the pot, and they are dealt two cards. Depending on the variant being played, some or all of the remaining players may be required to make an ante and/or blind bets. Players can then choose to either fold or raise their bets.
The goal is to make a winning five-card hand from your two personal cards and the community cards on the table. The most common hands are three of a kind (three matching cards of one rank), straight, and flush. A high card can break ties in case of multiple identical pairs.
A skilled poker player can extract signal from the noise of a game to read and exploit other players. This requires the ability to read body language, especially facial expressions and breathing. A sighing, flaring nostrils, or sweating forehead can indicate bluffing. A hand over the mouth can conceal a smile and a shrug can reveal nerves.