In Poker, individuals compete for an amount of money or chips contributed by all players (called the pot). The game requires skill, strategy, and some chance. Players use their knowledge of their opponents to make bets based on the cards they have been dealt and their predictions of what their opponents might do. Players also rely on bluffing, which is a way to win without showing your cards.

The earliest form of the game used only a 20-card deck, which was evenly distributed to each player. This made the game relatively predictable and limited the number of ways to make a winning hand: one pair, two pairs, three of a kind, four of a kind, and full house.

As poker evolved, new games and variations of the game were created, but the basic principles remained the same. For example, in many games, a player must contribute a small bet called an ante before they can see their cards. This contribution helps fund the pot and adds value to each player’s hand.

Poker, like most games, is won by extracting as much value as possible from the winning hands and minimizing losses from losing ones. This approach is called Minimise Losses – Maximise Winnings, or MinMax. It is the same approach that science uses to train people to process feedback and build models of the world around them.