Poker Variants

In the family of poker games there are hundreds of children. Most poker games share a certain set of rules while differ in others. Changing just one rule, such as the number of cards dealt can create a game with very different characteristics and accordingly different strategies will have to be implied to beat it. While there is an almost infite arsenal of games offered, few are more popular than others.

Community Card Games

These games include the two by far most popular gametypes: Texas Hold'em and Omaha. Community card games resemble each other by the rules that each player gets dealt a certain number of „hole” cards, that are not revealed to other players, and through a certain number of betting rounds a „board” is also dealt, that consists of face-up cards available for all players to make the best possible hand.

The vast majority of poker games offered live or online are Texas Hold'em and occasionally Omaha and accordignly most of poker strategies focus on these gametypes, everything else is „exotic”. There are some other less significant members of the community card family as well, such as Pineapple or Double Hold'em.

The information in these games that you will use to build up your strategy is the hand you're dealt, the board that is dealt and the betting action of your opponents.

Stud Games

Stud games were originally the number one preffered game in certain regions of the US and until today they are offered in most online poker rooms although a significantly smaller player pool plays them than Holdem or even Omaha. In stud games every player is dealt a certain number of cards face up for everyone to see and a certain number face down and everyone is only allowed to use their own cards to make their hand.

In some games, such as 7 Card Stud or 5 Card Stud the winner is the highest ranked hand, but it is also possible to play a lowball version, such as Razz, or split games (where half the pot is won by the highest, half by the lowest ranked hand) such as 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo.

To form a strategy in a stud game you will have the following information: your hand, the face up part for all your opponents hands and the betting action. While this looks similar to community card games the fact that the board is not shared but everyone has their own hands makes all the difference. There are also more cards revealed to you and these factors will all greatly change the probability calculations you use to found your decisions.

7-Card Stud

Draw Poker Games

The third category worth mentioning is Draw Poker, that contains most classic and „oldschool” games. Maverick played 5 Card Draw for example, but there is also the lowball version of 2-7 Single or Triple Draw or some „newer” gametypes such as Badugi. The common in these games is that everyone gets their hand dealt face down and through a number of betting rounds everyone is allowed to discard and redraw a portion of their hand.

Some draw poker games are offered in most online poker rooms but are way less popular than the above
The information your strategies are built on in these games are your hand, the cards that were revealed to you while drawing and discarding, and the number of cards your opponent draws. The strategies also differ from the above because not only you will have to make the betting decision but there's also a drawing decision involved (how many and which of your cards do you want to replace)

5-Card Draw

Mixed games

While mixed games are not a seperate gametype they're worth taking note of as they are offered in most online rooms and there are also some mixed events in the World Series of Poker.

The most common mixed games are H.O.S.E , H.O.R.S.E, 7 Game, 8 Game, 10 game and Dealer's Choice (mostly played live). Some soundingly call mixed games the ultimate challenge in poker but it is true that to master 10 Game you need to know a thnig or two about poker strategy.