Poker is a card game that can be played by two or more players and involves betting between hands. The object of the game is to win the pot, which is the total amount of all bets made in a single deal. The game has hundreds of variants, but most share a similar structure: One player (or a designated player, depending on the rules) makes a bet by placing chips in the pot equal to or higher than the total contribution of any player before him. This is known as calling. Players may also raise their bets.
The game originated as a bluffing and betting game in the Renaissance, with ancestors including the Italian game primero and the English game brag. By the time of the American Revolution, it had evolved into a full 52-card English deck game that allowed for multiple betting rounds and the concept of bluffing.
In the early twenty-first century, poker became more popular than ever before thanks to online gambling and television broadcasts of major casino events like the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour. Many people started playing the game on a regular basis at home or in local bars and restaurants, and it quickly spread around the globe.
It is important to understand the game well, with all its different variants, before you try to write articles about it. You will need to keep up with the latest trends and what is going on in major casinos like those in Las Vegas or Atlantic City in the USA. You will also need to be familiar with how the game is played and how different players think and act during a hand, including their famous tells.