Poker is a card game that involves betting between two or more players. It is played with a standard 52-card pack plus the joker, which serves as a wild card. Each player must put into the pot at least the amount of money (chips) that their predecessors did, or they can fold and not play a hand. Players can win by having the best hand or by bluffing.
There are one or more betting intervals during each deal, which begins when all players have received their 2 hole cards. This round is started by 2 mandatory bets called blinds, which are placed into the pot by the players to the left of the dealer.
When the betting interval ends, all players show their cards and the player with the best poker hand wins the pot. The remaining players can also call (match) the bet or drop their cards and concede. Players can also bluff by betting that they have the best hand even though they don’t. In this case, other players who have superior hands must call the bet to prevent the bluff from succeeding.
The key to success in poker and life is to be able to make decisions under uncertainty. This requires estimating the probability of different scenarios and then choosing the action that has the most positive expected value. This process is very similar to deciding under uncertainty in finance and other areas. The more you practice poker, the better your instincts will become, and concepts like frequency estimation and EV will naturally come into play.