The game of poker is a card game with fixed rules, played by two or more players. Each player puts in a forced bet before seeing their cards, which creates a pot and encourages competition. Players can also choose to raise their own bets. If they want to do this, they must say “raise,” and the other players may call their new bet or fold. If they fold, they give their cards to the dealer face-down.
While the outcome of any hand largely involves chance, players’ decisions at the table are based on probability, psychology, and game theory. Bets are made in order to either improve one’s own chances of winning or bluff other players for strategic reasons.
The name ‘poker’ is thought to come from the French word ‘poque’, which means a small container. It is also suggested that the game came from a variety of earlier vying games, which used two or more decks. These include Belle, Flux & Trente-un (French, 17th – 18th centuries), Post & Pair (English and American, 18th century to present) and Brelan (French and English, late 19th – early 20th centuries). R F Foster drew on research into the history of poker and other card games to publish a set of definitive rules in 1904.