Poker is a card game played between two or more players. Each player is dealt five cards. During the game, players may discard some cards and draw new ones. The highest-ranking hand wins the pot. The game requires skill, reading your opponent’s behavior, and keeping your cool while bluffing. The goal is to get as many chips as possible. Poker rules vary by variation. In most games, the number of players is eight or nine.

A hand is called a “nut” when it contains five cards of the same suit. In this case, the pair of sevens in the hole is the best possible hand. The turn card is a 5 and the river is the last seven. If you have a pair of sevens, you have a “nuts hand.”

To play poker, you must have a pair of cards. Each player must place an ante, or blind bet, in order to participate in the game. The dealer deals the cards to the players one at a time, either face-up or face-down. The action begins with the first player to the left of the dealer button. After the initial deal, the action begins, with the small blind or big blind being posted by the player on the left. In between betting rounds, the players’ hands develop as they get additional cards or replace those that have already been dealt.

The game’s name comes from the German and French words poque and pochen. Some historians believe that poker was invented by Persian sailors in the 17th century. In casual play, the right to deal the cards for each hand rotates among the players. The dealer button (or “buck”) is a white plastic disk that signifies the nominal dealer. After the cards are dealt, the dealer passes the shuffled deck to the next player.