When you hear “Poker” you may automatically start thinking of the popular game, Texas Hold’em; it’s the variety of poker that is played at the World Series of Poker, and it manages to be both accessible for novice players and complex enough for professionals. However, Texas Hold’em is far from the only poker game out there. There are several other varieties of poker that are played all over the world, and we’re going to take a look at some of them today.
Texas Hold’em
Before we go any further, we should probably discuss Texas Hold’em and how it’s played. In Texas Hold’em, each player is dealt two “pocket” cards that they don’t reveal to the other players. A round of betting occurs, and the dealer deals three community cards. Another round of betting then occurs, and a fourth card is added to the community cards. After another round of betting and an addition of a fifth card, any players that haven’t folded reveal their pocket cards. The player that can make the strongest hand from their pocket cards and the community cards wins the pot.
Omaha
Omaha is similar to Texas Hold’em in that there are four rounds of betting and players must put together the strongest possible hand from their community cards and pocket cards. The differences are that each player has four pocket cards and the five community cards are immediately revealed. Players make hands from two pocket cards and three community cards.
7-Card Stud
In 7-Card Stud, each player is dealt three cards face down and four cards face up. They must make the strongest five-card hand from these cards.
5-Card Draw
5-Card Draw is probably the second-most popular and well-known poker game. Each player is dealt five cards at the beginning of each hand. After a round of betting, each player can exchange up to three of their cards to get a stronger hand.
High/Low Chicago
High/Low Chicago is a stud poker game can be played for the highest hand or the lowest. In High Chicago, the player with the highest spade card face down wins half the pot. In Low Chicago, the lowest face-down spade wins. The other half of the pot is won by the player with the best hand.
Follow the Queen
Follow the Queen is a 7-card stud game in which the card that is exposed after a queen is flipped becomes a wild card for the hand. If no queen is flipped, there is no wild card.