Poker is a card game in which players bet money (or chips) against each other and win it by forming the best five-card hand. It is a family of card games, and many variations exist, but they all have a common set of rules. The goal is to win the pot, which contains all the bets made during a single deal. If no one has a winning hand, the remaining bets are shared among the players who did not fold their cards. There are also rules governing how the pot is split if there is a tie amongst the best hands.

Each round of poker begins with one or more forced bets, called the ante and blind bets. The dealer then shuffles the cards and deals them to each player, starting with the player to his or her right. The cards may be dealt face up or down, depending on the variant of poker being played. After the initial deal, a series of betting intervals takes place in which players may call, raise, or concede.

A good poker player can increase the value of his or her hands by bluffing during a betting round. Bluffing is an important element of the game because it can force weaker hands to fold and raise the amount of money that is available to the stronger hands. Players can also use push-fold charts to make decisions about when it is safe to go all-in with a given holding, based on the player’s position and stack depth.