Poker is a card game played between two or more players. The object of the game is to win a pot by placing bets on your hand before it is revealed to other players. The cards are dealt face up, and betting takes place in clockwise order until every player checks (no one raises). The winner of the pot is the person with the best poker hand.
The rules of the game vary from game to game, but most use a standard set of chips: a white chip is worth a unit; a red chip is worth five units; and a blue chip is worth either ten or twenty whites. At the beginning of a hand, each player must buy in with a certain number of chips. The player to the left of the dealer puts in an initial contribution, called an ante, and then places bets on his or her hand.
The best known ancestor of poker is probably primiera, which existed under that name in the 16th and 17th centuries, and its English equivalent, primero; however, these have little bearing on modern poker. The game is also related to glic, which was played in the 18th century and had a brief revival under the name of bog. It is sometimes claimed that General Schenck introduced the game to the British public, but this is unsupported by historical evidence. Regardless, the game is an excellent way to develop the skills of strategic thinking and risk management.
