Poker is a card game involving skill and strategy, but it is also a form of gambling in which players wager money or chips on the outcome of the cards that are randomly distributed to them. It can be played by two or more people, and the goal is to make the best five-card hand.

The game is played using a standard pack of 52 cards (although some variant games use multiple packs or add wild cards). A poker hand ranks in order from high to low, with the highest ranking being a Royal Flush. There are four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs), and each suit has a specific rank; the Ace is always high. In addition to the standard poker cards, some games feature jokers that can take on whatever rank the player wishes.

A key element of the game is observation, with players using body language and other tells to determine whether their opponents have strong or weak hands. A player’s manner and content of speech can also give away information about their hand. For example, a player who is meek and quiet when they have a strong hand may be bluffing to scare off calls.

Poker’s likely immediate ancestor is Pochen (German, 16th century), and its French version, Poque (16th – early 19th centuries). Other card games with a similar ancestor include Post and Pair (17th & 18th centuries, British), Brelan (18th century, American), and Brag (19th century to present). All of these were based on the original German game of Primero, a variation of three-card brag, which was a popular gentleman’s game on the riverboats that plied the Mississippi.