Poker Variations

Poker is a game that has gained lots of popularity in the recent years. People of all ages love playing poker not only in poker rooms, but also through the internet. Many of the poker variations of yesteryears like Baseball and Man with the Ax have all lost their popularity because poker is now considered to be a game of skill. And these games don’t need much of skill to play them. Today, there are many online poker varieties like Omaha, Seven Card Stud and Hold’em.

Hold’em is the most popular poker game today where there are five community cards used, making it the game with the fewest cards to be kept track of. Each player is first given two cards called hole which is followed by a ‘flop’ of three cards on the middle of the table. The dealer rotates clockwise so that no one player is at an advantage; and it is the player to the left of the dealer who always acts first. This is why position is an important aspect of hold’em.

Omaha is basically a variation of hold’em where you start with four cards, and not three. The specialty of the game is that you use no more than two of the cards you have in your hand, which often leads to confusion amongst players. In this game, only 45 of the 52 cards in a deck of cards are used so you have to have the best hand to win.

Another poker variation is Omaha Hi-Low which is a split game where half of the pot goes to the best or ‘high’ hand while the other half, to the worst or ‘low’ hand. Here, usually straights and flushes are not considered against the low. The best low hand here is A 2 3 4 5, which is referred as a ‘wheel’. The main concept of this poker variation is to ‘scoop’ or win both halves with hands that play both ways like A K 2 3.

The pineapple poker variation is not played very frequently, and is basically a three card version of hold’em. Here, each player is dealt three cards where the player has to discard one of these three cards either before or after the flop. The choice depends on the type of pineapple being played; the rest of the game follows the same rules as hold’em.

The seven card stud is one of the oldest poker variations where players are dealt two cards down and one card, up. After a round of betting, players are dealt a card each for three rounds after a round of betting each. Then a last down card is dealt wherein there is a final round of betting wherein the player makes their best five card poker hand from the seven cards they have. No blinds are used here and action is dealt by Antes where players place a fixed amount in the pot before a deal. A ‘bring in’ which is a percentage of minimum bet the lowest card shows is fixed after the initial deal of three cards. To continue playing in the hand, players must either match the ‘bring in’ or complete it in the minimum bet. The person with the highest hand acts first, so position is not an issue here.

There are many more poker variations to play besides these. There is basically no ‘best’ poker variation. Everything depends on you and your personal preferences. Different countries play a more famous and preferred form of poker variation and with online poker, you can conveniently have a taste of the many poker variations.

Top Poker Rooms

  Poker Rooms US Bonus Review Visit
1
Bodog Poker
Bodog Poker $500 Visit
2
Reefer Poker
Reefer Poker $1420 Review Visit
3
Pacific Poker
Pacific Poker $400 Review Visit
4
PokerStars
PokerStars $600 Review Visit
5
Fulltilt Poker
Fulltilt Poker $600 Review Visit
6
Poker Time
Poker Time $500 Review Visit
7
Aced Poker
Aced Poker $500 Review Visit
8
Sun Poker
Sun Poker $500 Review Visit
9
Doylesroom Poker
Doylesroom Poker $550 Review Visit
10
Cake Poker
Cake Poker $600 Review Visit
11
Pkr Poker
Pkr Poker $800 Review Visit
12
Ladbrokes Poker
Ladbrokes Poker $400 Review Visit
13
Carbon Poker
Carbon Poker $600 Review Visit
14
Luckyace Poker
Luckyace Poker $400 Review Visit
15
Sportsbook Poker
Sportsbook Poker $650 Review Visit