Texas Hold'em Poker - Objective

Like all variants of poker, in Texas hold 'em individuals compete for an amount of money contributed by the players themselves (called the pot). Because the cards are dealt randomly and outside the control of the players, each player attempts to control the amount of money in the pot based on the hands they hold.

The game is divided into a series of hands or deals, at the conclusion of each hand the pot is awarded to one or a few players. A hand ends either at the showdown (when the remaining players compare their hands), or when all but one player have folded and abandoned their claim to the pot. The pot is then awarded to the players who have not folded and have the best hand. (This is usually only one player, but can be more in the case of a tie.)

The objective of winning players is not winning every individual hand, but rather making mathematically correct decisions. By making such decisions, winning poker players maximize their long run winnings, which is achieved by maximizing their expected utility on each round of betting.

From Wikipedia's