Poker is a card game in which players compete to win the pot. The game uses a standard pack of 52 cards, and in many variant games there are wild cards or jokers. The highest hand wins. Players must first put in an initial contribution, known as the ante, before they can begin betting. In general, the goal of a player is to minimize losses on poor hands and maximize wins with good ones.

Each player must also be able to read the betting patterns of their opponents. Aggressive players often bet high early in a hand and can be bluffed into folding their hands. Conservative players, on the other hand, tend to fold early in a hand and can be easily read as only playing their best hands.

In most poker games, a round of betting starts after all players have received two hole cards. The first bet is usually made by the player to the left of the dealer. Other players may choose to call that bet by putting in the same number of chips into the pot, raise it by putting in more than the previous player did, or drop their hand (fold) and thus no longer compete for the pot.

Players are usually grouped into groups of similar skill level on the basis of their perceptions of each other’s abilities. This self-selection into groups reduces the influence of chance and allows the better players to earn more money. However, if the stakes are very large, it can take a long series of hands to show that skill predominates over luck.