There are many different poker variations played in casinos and on poker websites across the world. Although Texas Hold'Em is the most popular variant, it is not to every poker player's liking, and there are variations for players who enjoy bluffing, big bets, and different-sized hands dealt.
Gambling writer Vlad Grindu states that the leading gambling websites also allow you the option to play against the PC on a video poker machine or other gamblers at anonymous tables. Playing against the PC allows you to master the various poker variants before taking on real opponents in the live casino.
Texas Hold'Em
As mentioned, Texas Hold'Em is the most common type of poker, often played in major poker tournaments, like the World Series of Poker Main Event.
It starts when one of the players posts the big blind and another player the small blind (typically half of the value of the big blind). For example, a $10/$20 game indicates the small blind is $10 and the big blind is $20.
Each player is given two pocket cards (also called hole cards), and the dealer places five cards (the community cards) face down in the center of the table. The first round of bets then takes place. After this round, three community cards - called the flop - are turned over by the dealer, which results in another round of betting.
The dealer then turns over the fourth face-down card, known as the turn. For this round of betting the stake is doubled. Then, the dealer turns the final card (known as "the river"), face up, which is followed by the final round of betting where the stake is again doubled.
Each player then either folds or plays their hole cards and the community cards. The player with the highest-ranked hand wins the round.
Texas Hold'Em is so popular thanks to its unpredictability. In a 52 deck of cards, 2,598,960 possible hands can be made.
7-Card Stud/5-Card Stud
As the name indicates. 7-Card Stud is usually played with seven cards, although there is a five-card variation called 5-Card Stud. There are no community cards in this game; all players receive cards to make up a hand.
For 7-Card Stud, three cards are face-down and four are face-up. For the five-card variation, the first card is face-down, then three face-up, and the final card is face-down again.
The player who has the highest hand wins the round.
Omaha Hi
This variation is similar to Texas Hold'Em, with the main difference being that the players are issued four pocket cards, of which they have to use two and three from the community cards to form their best hand.
Omaha Hi-Lo
This game can feature two winners who split the pot: the players with the best high-value and low-value hands respectively. The high-value hand is the same as the high-value hands in Texas Hold'Em. The low-value hand is determined by the same rules as lowball poker games, so the value is determined by the highest card.
Apart from this rule, Hi-Lo is played similarly to Omaha Hi.
2-7 Triple Draw
This lowball variation sees the dealer giving each player five face-down cards. There are three draw rounds, during which each player can swap cards from their hand with the dealer. Each round is followed by a betting round.
The best low-value hand wins.
5-Card Draw
In draw poker, players get to see their pocket cards but don't show them to other players, except if there is a showdown. The dealer issues each player five cards, face-down. Each player can decide, in order of dealing, whether they want to trade in their cards (three cards max) for new ones. The player who has the best hand at the end of the round wins.
