POKER GAME

Poker is a family group of card games connected with betting and individualistic play whereby the winner relies on the ranks and combinations of their cards, some of which stay hidden until the end of the game. Poker games vary in the number of poker cards dealt, the number of shared or "community" cards and the number of cards that stay hidden. The betting procedures vary among different poker games in such ways as betting limits and splitting the pot between a high hand and a low hand.
In most modern poker games, the first round of betting starts with one of the players making some form of a forced bet (the blind and/or ante). In regular poker, each player is betting that the hand he or she has will be the best ranked. The action then proceeds clockwise around the table and each player in turn must either match the highest previous bet or fold, losing the amount bet so far and all further interest in the hand. A player who matches a bet may also "raise," or increase the bet. The betting round finishes when all players have either matched the last bet or folded. If all but one player fold on any round, then the remaining player collects the pot and may decide to show or conceal their hand. If more than one player remains in contention after the final betting round, the hands are revealed and the player with the winning hand takes the pot. Except for initial forced bets, money is only placed into the pot voluntarily by a player who, at least in theory, rationally believes the bet has positive expected value. Thus, while the outcome of any particular hand significantly involves chance, the long-run expectations of the players are determined by their actions chosen on the basis of probability, psychology and game theory.
Poker has gained in popularity since the starting of the twentieth century, and has gone from being primarily a recreational activity confined to small groups of mostly male enthusiasts, to a widely popular spectator activity with international audiences and multi-million dollar tournament awards.