Poker is a card game played with a standard 52-card deck and involves skill, strategy, and a little bit of chance. Unlike most other card games, where each player has just one hand, in poker players place bets on multiple hands and bluff at times. The game originated from a variety of earlier vying games, some with as few as three cards and others with as many as six, but it seems to have evolved into its current form around 1900. Early references to the game include the reminiscences of Jonathan H Green and Joe Cowell in published works (of uncertain dates).

Each player places an ante into the pot and then deals themselves five cards. Then a number of betting rounds take place with the remaining players. Each round involves checking, calling, raising, and folding until the showdown at the end of the game. The player with the best hand wins.

A poker tournament is a competition in which players participate in matches against other participants with the winner determined by the sum of the winnings of each match. The format is common in sports and games where matches must involve a limited number of competitors, such as most team racket and combat sports, many board games and card games, and some forms of competitive debating.

The first part of a poker tournament involves the establishing of an amount that is the minimum required to raise to call another player’s bet, known as the “pot size”. This is typically established using a combination of game theory and psychology. After the pot size is established, players may continue to raise, but they cannot bet more than the pot size at any time.