Poker is a card game in which individuals compete for an amount of money or chips contributed by all players (the pot). A hand consists of five cards. Individuals may raise or call, depending on their assessment of the probability that their opponents hold superior hands. They can also bluff, in which case they place bets that are higher than their actual holdings. The higher the value of a hand, the more it can earn players.
Whether playing in person or online, the best Poker players excel at extracting information from multiple channels—from their opponents’ eye contact and body language to their betting patterns. They use this information to build accurate models of their opponents, exploit them, and protect themselves. Duke: My field is cognitive psychology, which focuses on how people process information and build models of the world around them. I’m always looking for ways to apply these principles in other domains—such as poker—to improve my game.
In most games, the first player to act in each betting phase is determined by where they sit at the table: They are positioned first-to-act to the left of the big blind and next to it for pre-flop betting. Once the players have bet, 3 cards are dealt face-up to everyone at the table, which are known as the flop. These are community cards that can be used by each player to make a 5-card hand.
Players can choose to call, raise, or fold during each betting interval. If they call, they must bet an amount equal to the total of all bets raised before them. Otherwise, they can simply check.