Poker is a card game of strategy, chance and bluffing that has become an international phenomenon. It is played in casinos, homes and online and is an extremely popular hobby and pastime worldwide. There are many different variations of the game, but they all have some things in common. For example, all players are dealt cards and placed in a betting circle called the “pot.” The aim is to make the best five-card hand at the end of the game. The winner takes all of the chips in the pot.
The game is very fast paced and the action can be intense. Some players are very aggressive, while others are more cautious and may even fold their hand if they have poor cards. Those who choose to bet, or “call”, must match the amount of money that has been raised by other players, or else they will have to wait for their turn again. A player can also check, or pass on their turn if they don’t want to call the bet.
The game has attracted academic attention from disciplines as diverse as computer science, decision making and game theory. A key insight from the game theory analysis of poker was that bluffing is an important component of a winning strategy. A 1944 book by mathematician John von Neumann and economist Oskar Morgenstern devoted significant space to this analysis, using poker as a key example.