Poker is a card game that requires concentration and attention to detail. It forces players to pay close attention to the cards and to their opponents (if playing in a physical environment). It also develops the ability to make decisions under uncertainty, a skill that is useful in many business environments.
The game is played between two or more players and involves forming a hand of five cards. The best hand wins the pot, which is all of the money that has been bet during a betting round. Each player is dealt two personal cards, and then five community cards are revealed on the table. The goal is to create the best possible 5 card poker hand using both your own 2 cards and the community cards.
There are a variety of rules and betting structures in poker, but the most common are:
Each betting interval (round) begins when a player makes a bet by placing chips into the pot. Then the players to his or her left must either call that amount, raise by putting more chips into the pot than the previous player, or drop out.
The math involved in poker is quite complex, but over time, it becomes second-nature. A lot of the concepts like probabilities, EV estimation and combos start to become intuitive. The key is to learn the material well, practice it and then put it into action. This is the only way to truly master the game.