Poker games encompass all the varied types of card games in which players bet that they hold the highest-ranking hand. Also known as vying games, the players of this game make wagers into a central pot with fully or partially secret cards, after which the pot is granted to the remaining players with the best combination of cards. The existence of poker games can be traced back to thirteenth-century China.

Plan, bluffing, and luck are the main features of a card game. All varieties of card games consist of betting rounds during which each player can either call (place a bet equal to the current bet), raise (increase the current bet), or fold (lose the hand). Poker is a five-card vying game. Instead of playing their cards out, in poker, the players bet as to who holds the best card combination by gradually raising the bets until either there is a showdown, when the best hand wins all the bets (the pot), or all but one player have given up betting and dropped out of play; at that point, the last person to raise wins the pot without a showdown. It is possible for the pot to be won by a hand that is not, in fact, the best.

To be successful in poker, a player should know the basic rules and procedures of the game, the values of the various combinations of cards, and the rules about betting limits. There are also many variants of poker, such as draw poker, stud poker, community card poker, and other miscellaneous poker games.

Though a poker game involves rules and procedures, it is easy for anybody to learn. Unlike other games at the casino that entirely depend on luck, poker games depend on strategy, a bit of bluffing, and luck.