Poker is a card game that you can play against other people. It is played from a standard pack of 52 cards (although some variant games use multiple packs or add jokers). All poker hands contain five cards and the highest hand wins. The cards are ranked in ascending order: Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 are high, while spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs are low. Some games also have wild cards that can take on any suit and rank.

In poker, as in life, you need to weigh your chances to maximise profit. Sometimes you have to risk it all to win a big pot. Sometimes, you have to accept that you will not always get the best starting hands or you will be caught bluffing. Nevertheless, not having the strongest starting hand should not make you surrender. It is like not having the strongest CV, but you can still get further in a job interview than someone with a stronger one, because you know how to weight your chances.

When it is your turn to bet, you can say “raise” if you want to increase the amount of money you are betting. The other players can then choose to either call your new bet or fold.

Early vying games included a variety of different games using cards, but the most relevant to Poker are Belle (French, 17th – 18th centuries), Flux & Trente-un (German, 1680 – 1800), Post & Pair (English and American, 19th century) and Brag (18th – late 19th centuries, French and English). These essentially acted as the forerunners to Poker.