Poker is a card game where players wager money on the cards in their hands. It is considered a casino game and although it has some strategic elements, it is essentially a gamble based on luck. A player with the best poker hand wins all of the money wagered during a hand.

The game is usually played with a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 14 players. There are many different variations of poker, but they all have the same general rules. A hand consists of 5 cards, and each player places chips into the pot (representing money) whenever he calls a bet.

Before a hand begins, the dealer shuffles and cuts the deck and then deals each player 2 cards, face down (hidden from other players). Then the first betting interval begins. Each player must put in a bet equal to or higher than the last bet made by the player before him.

After the first betting phase, 3 cards are dealt face up in the center of the table, which all players can see. These are called the flop and they form community cards. Another betting phase then begins.

Top players fast-play their strong hands in order to build the pot and chase off other players who are holding a hand that could beat theirs. They also take note of how their opponents play and use this to improve their strategy going forward. They also work out ranges, which is a way of analysing the selection of possible hands that their opponent could have and working out how likely it is that they have a particular one.