What is Planning Poker?

Planning Poker (also called Scrum Poker) is a consensus-based estimation technique using playing cards to size Product Backlog Items. Each participant has a deck of cards with values (typically Fibonacci: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, ?, ∞, ☕). The process: the Product Owner reads a User Story and answers clarifying questions. All estimators simultaneously reveal their cards (hiding selections until reveal prevents anchoring). When estimates diverge, the highest and lowest estimators explain their reasoning. Discussion reveals different assumptions, leading to a shared understanding. The team re-estimates and converges on a number. The simultaneous reveal prevents anchoring bias (where an early estimate anchors everyone else's thinking). Planning Poker surfaces assumptions, domain knowledge gaps, and technical risk discussions that wouldn't emerge from individual estimates. Tools like PlanningPoker.com, Jira, and Azure DevOps support online Planning Poker for distributed teams.