Poker is a card game played by two or more people around a table. The game is a competitive skill game in which players place bets based on the strength of their hands. Players may also bluff, betting that they have a good hand when in reality they do not, in order to win a bet from another player.

The game is played with a standard 52-card English deck. The cards are shuffled and dealt one at a time face up to each player in rotation until a jack appears, the player who receives this card becomes the first dealer. A token called a button (or the buck) is passed clockwise among the players to indicate who is to deal each hand. Ties are broken by a repeated deal.

In the long run, poker is a game of skill where skill dominates chance. This is because the amount of chance in a hand diminishes with the number of hands, and is eventually canceled out by the effect of player decisions on the overall profitability of a hand. Nonetheless, luck will still play a small role in the short term. Players can improve their odds of winning by learning to read their opponents through subtle physical poker tells, such as shallow breathing, sighing, nose flaring, eyes watering, blinking, a hand over the mouth, or shaking a hand. Also by paying attention to how their chips are being handled and whether they are raising often enough.