Poker is one of the most popular card games around, played everywhere from private homes to countless casinos. Players compete for an amount of chips contributed by all the players (called the pot) and based on their own hand as well as predictions about what their opponents might be holding. While luck does play a role, Poker requires a high degree of skill.

Each player begins a betting interval, or round, by putting in a mandatory bet called blinds (put into the pot by two players to the left of the dealer). Then a fourth card is dealt face up on the table and another round of checking, calling, raising, and folding takes place. At the end of a betting interval, players reveal their hands and the best hand wins the pot.

As the game developed, it became a favorite pastime for countless amateur players, who invested small amounts of their incomes to test their skills and occasionally make a profit. These amateurs eventually filtered upward to a smaller group of professional players who took the game much more seriously.

Poker’s rich mosaic of strategies and psychological nuances offer a treasure trove of metaphors for creative writing, with the inherent unpredictability of the game reflecting the twists and turns of a compelling narrative. The game’s complex rules and intricacies are also a perfect fit for the genre of science fiction, as it provides a vehicle to explore the darker aspects of human nature.