Common Poker Variations Played Around The World

Despite the explosion of Texas Hold ‘em on to the main stream scene, as well as its position as the “face” of poker, there are numerous other types of poker games available to learn. Many variations of poker can be found everywhere ranging from home games with house rules, to countless stud and draw games found in casinos across the world. As it is impossible to cover every single different type of poker in existence, below are a few of the more popular variations played around the world.

Texas Hold ‘em:

As one of the most popular poker games across North America and Europe, Hold ‘em has become the mainstream game of poker; it is officially the default poker game people speak of, online and off. In contrast to poker alternatives like stud or draw games where players hold a separate individual hand, Hold ‘em is a community card game where players use any combination of the 5 community cards combined with their two hole cards to make the best possible poker hand.

After having exploded into popularity in the early 2000’s, Hold ‘em replaced 7 card stud as the most common game in American casinos, and eventually became the most widely televised form of poker, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP) as well as the World Poker Tour (WPT).

Due to the fact that each player only starts with 2 cards and the remaining cards are held in the community hand, it presents an opportunity for the game to develop various levels of strategic analysis – including mathematical analysis through calculating hand odds. For this reason alone, OnlinePokerSolutions.com was established to help players of all levels and interests develop their poker game by providing the best online poker strategies available absolutely free.

Omaha Hi:

Also a community card game and much similar to Texas Hold ‘em, in Omaha Hi each player is dealt four cards rather than two. The player’s goal is to make the best hand using only two of the four cards, combined with exactly three of the five cards on the board. The game consists of four betting rounds.

An alternative version of Omaha Hi is Omaha Hi-Lo. Omaha in general is often called “the nuts” game, due to the face that the best possible high (or low) hand is frequently required to win a showdown.

Seven Card Stud:

As a variation of stud poker, Seven Card Stud used to be the most played poker across the United States up until the explosive popularity of Texas Hold ‘em. As a 2-8 player game, betting consists of an initial ante, followed by five founds of betting. In casinos, it is common to use a small ante as well as a bring-in, but most home games usually consist only of an ante.

Each player receives three cards faced down, and four cards faced up. The goal is to create the high valued hand by combining five of the seven cards dealt to each player.

Five Card Draw:

Five card draw is one variation of poker that is most commonly learned first by many players, it is also one of the rarest in casinos as well as in tournament play. In the odd casino which carries this variant, the first betting round begins with the player left of the big blind, and with following rounds beginning with the player left of the dealer; in home games, an ante is often used by the player left of the dealer in the first round, and the second round often starts with the player who opened in the first round.

The game begins with each player being dealt five cards – all facing down. After each player receives their cards, the first round of betting occurs, once all bets are in, each player specifies how many cards they want to replace/discard from their hand. Each player is then dealt cards equivalent to the amount they discarded, and a “after the draw” betting round occurs. If more than one player remains after this round, a showdown occurs and the player with the best poker hand wins the pot.