Poker is a card game played by players with a deck of 52 cards. It is played with at least five people, and the highest-value card wins. There are many variations of the game, and all will be explained later in this chapter. For fewer players, two separate games may be organized. For groups of more than ten players, two separate games may be organized. In general, more than five players can play a single game.
The game involves betting, where each player puts in a set number of chips, and each player then raises the amount of chips that he or she has bet. The winner is the player who has the highest hand when all players have acted. A player cannot fold when the other players know that he or she is bluffing, but the player with the highest hand wins the pot and all bets. However, players can fold if the other players have a higher-valued hand than the other player’s.
The game continues until the dealer discards the last card from the deck. The dealer deals the three community cards face up. During each round, the dealer “burns” a card from the top of the deck. Then, the player to the left of the big blind (the player to the left of him in the hand) may choose to make a bet or check his or her hand. After three rounds of betting, the final round of the game is called the Showdown.