Poker is a card game played by two or more players and involves betting. Each player puts in a wager before being dealt cards. In addition to placing a play wager, players may also place a raise or call. If the player makes a call, he must match the amount of the previous player’s bet. If the player makes a raise, he must increase the amount of his bet to stay in the pot.

A hand of poker consists of five cards of equal rank. If a player has no matching cards, they are said to have folded and no longer compete for the pot. Usually, the winner of the pot is the player with the best five-card hand. The rules of poker vary from one variant to the next, but there are some fundamentals that all players must know.

In order to create tension in a poker game, it is important that the game be based on realistic odds. This means that the game must take place over hours and dozens of rounds (hands). The writer should research actual high stakes games to get an idea of how many hands are dealt and the level of tension. In addition, the writer should include anecdotes to make the story more interesting and believable.

Poker has become a popular spectator sport with the invention of hole-card cameras, which allow viewers to see each player’s cards in tournaments. The popularity of the game grew even more in the early 21st century, when Internet poker and television broadcasts of major poker tournaments became commonplace.