Poker is a card game with varying rules but the general aim of winning the pot, which is the sum of all the players’ bets in a round. This is achieved by having the highest ranking poker hand or bluffing successfully. The game is a popular pastime for many people around the world and is considered to be a combination of luck and skill, although over time the application of skills will nearly eliminate the element of chance.
The game is usually played between 2 – 14 people, although the game can be adapted for any number of players. There are several different types of poker, and each has its own rules and scoring system. Most variants require a minimum of six cards, and each player is dealt two hole cards face down. This is followed by a round of betting, started by the players to the left of the dealer who have placed mandatory bets into the pot called “blinds.” 1 more card is then dealt face up, and there is a final betting phase before the best 5-card hand is revealed.
There is speculation that the game has ancient roots, with links to 10th century Chinese domino games and 16th century Persian game As Nas. However, the likeliest immediate ancestor is a 17th century French game named Poque. From there, the game spread to America in the early 19th century through riverboats on the Mississippi and elsewhere.