Poker is a card game of skill and chance, where players wager money on the outcome of a hand. It is played between two and seven players, although five or six players are ideally suited to the game. The game can be played with or without jokers (wild cards) and with different numbers of cards in each hand, but the standard 52-card English deck is usually used. A round of betting begins when all players have two hole cards. A player may choose to call, raise, or fold their bet at any time during a hand. The players who call the highest ranked hand take the pot.
The game is very fast-paced, and players bet frequently. A player who wishes to add more to the pot must increase his or her own bet or raise that of any other player. The player who has the best hand after the last betting round wins the pot.
There are many variants of poker, but all share certain elements. A poker hand consists of five cards. The value of a poker hand is in inverse proportion to its mathematical frequency, so that rarer hands are worth less than common ones. Players can also bluff, and good bluffing is an important part of the strategy.
A tournament is a special event at a store or convention where players bring their squad/deck/army/fleet and compete against each other in a series of rounds for the chance to win prizes. The tournament organizer will specify a tournament structure ahead of time, which dictates how many rounds should be used and how much time players will have to complete their games.