Poker is a card game in which players wager chips (representing money) against each other in a communal pot. The object is to win the pot by having the highest-ranking poker hand at a showdown, or to bet enough that other players fold and you are left with the best hand. The game incorporates several mechanisms by which players strategically misinform each other about the strength of their hands. This includes betting patterns and body language, as well as verbal cues such as flinching and smiling. A professional player is adept at extracting signals from many different channels and integrating them to exploit their opponents and protect themselves.

During each betting interval, called a deal, one player designated by the rules of the game makes a bet of one or more chips. Each player to his left must either “call” the bet by putting into the pot at least as many chips as the player that preceded him, or he may raise the bet. If a player doesn’t want to call the bet, he must “drop” (fold), discard his cards and leave the table.

When the betting is complete, the final card is dealt face up and a showdown ensues. The player with the best five-card poker hand wins the pot. If no one has a better hand than the best possible, the winnings are divided among those who have the highest unmatched pair or secondary pair (four of a kind and three of a kind). In the case of identical poker hands, ties are broken by the highest unmatched pair or secondary pair.