There is nothing that officially makes a poker game “official.” However, there are some rules and procedures to be followed in order for a hand of poker to be called an official one. In general, players should always play with a high degree of ethics and abide by the poker rules that are in place. In addition, a player should never attempt to break any poker rules in order to win more money.

The Poker Tournament Directors Association (or TDA) is an organization that manages the poker rules for major live and online poker tournaments. It is made up of managers of poker rooms, circuits, leagues and independent tournaments and consists of over 2,500 members in 63 countries around the world. The TDA has been in existence since 2001 and has a number of acclaimed poker professionals on its board.

In the early sixteenth century, Germans played a bluffing card game that eventually developed into a form of poker known as pochen. The game was played socially for pennies or matchsticks and professionally for thousands of dollars. Today, poker is played everywhere from private homes to casinos around the world.

The basic rules of poker are that a player must combine his or her two hole cards with the community cards on the table to make a five-card hand. Players may raise, fold or call in a poker hand. In the case of a raised bet, the player must have sufficient chips to cover the amount of the bet. The game is not over until a showdown takes place and the winning hand is declared.