Poker is a card game of chance and skill that involves betting between players. While the outcome of a particular hand is heavily dependent on luck, long-run expectations for each player are determined by actions they choose to take based on probability, psychology and game theory.

A player’s choice to call, check or fold at the end of each betting round determines how much money is placed into the pot. The player with the best 5-card hand wins all the money in the pot. Players may also bluff in the hope that other players will call their bets.

In addition to the ante, some games have blind bets (replacing or in addition to the ante). During each betting interval, a player who is required to make a blind bet puts into the pot a number of chips equal to or greater than the total contribution from players before him.

Players must extract maximum value from their winning hands and minimise losses from their losing hands. This is known as ‘MinMax’. To do so, they must exploit their opponents, i.e., bluff them into calling their bets when they don’t have the best hand. However, excessive caution can be costly as it means missing opportunities when a moderate amount of risk could yield a large reward.