Poker is a card game that is widely considered to require luck as well as skill. It has been played since the 16th century, when it was first recorded as a German game called Pochen. Later it was adapted into the French game called Poque, which remained popular until the 19th century. Today, poker is one of the most popular pastimes worldwide.

The basic goal of Poker is to win the pot, which consists of all bets placed on any given deal. This is achieved either by having the best poker hand or by raising enough that no other player calls. In order to do this, a player must have a sufficient number of chips in the pot at the time of the raise to make up for the deficit incurred by the last raiser. This is called being in the pot and a player who is not willing to do this must drop out of the pot.

A player can also choose to place fewer chips in the pot, which is known as folding. When this happens, he or she will surrender the cards to the dealer and the betting cycle ends.

After the players have all received their 2 hole cards, a fourth community card is dealt face up, which is called the flop. Another round of betting takes place and the player with the best 5 card poker hand wins the pot. The last card is then dealt face up, which is called the river and there is a final round of betting before the showdown.